UC-NRLF 


THE  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY  OF  CHICAGO 
BULLETIN  No.  7 


THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE 

OZARK  HIGHLAND 

OF  MISSOURI 


By 
CARL  O.)  SAUER 


PUBLISHED   FOR  THE  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY  OF  CHICAGO 

By 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK 
HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OP  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  COMPANY 

NEW  YOKE 

THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

LONDON 

THE  MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA 

TOKYO,  OSAKA,  KYOTO,  PUKUOKA,  SEND  A I 

THE  MISSION  BOOK  COMPANY 

BBANGHAI 


THE  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY  OF  CHICAGO 
BULLETIN  No.  7 


THE  GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE 

OZARK  HIGHLAND 

OF  MISSOURI 


By 
CARL  O.  SAUER 


PUBLISHED   FOR  THE  GEOGRAPHIC  SOCIETY  OF  CHICAGO 

By 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS 
CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Copyright  1920  Bv 
The  University  of  Chicago 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Published  January  1920 


C  4     C       (  t       ( 

«  <-      «  . .«  t   i 

•  >   ^   t  t    C      C  Q  , 


Composed  and  Printed  By 

The  University-  of  Chicago  Press 

Chicago.  Illinois,  U.S.A. 


THIS  BOOK.  IS  INSCRIBED  TO  THE 
GENTLE  MEMORY  OF  MY  FATHER,  AT 
WHOSE  SIDE  I  FORMED  MY  FIRST 
APPRECIATION  OF  THE  THINGS  THAT 

CONSTITUTE    THE    LIVING    WORLD 

« 


M225CSi) 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  a  study  in  regional  geography,  the  most  urgent  field 
of  geographic  inquiry.  Geograpny  is  among  the  youngest  of  the  sciences. 
It  is  not  ready,  therefore,  to  announce  many  generalizations,  but  must 
concentrate  on  the  systematic  and  comprehensive  scrutiny  of  individual 
areas,  inquiring  into  the  conditions  of  the  past  as  well  as  into  those  now 
existing.  The  collection  of  facts  in  this  manner,  and  in  this  manner  only, 
will  lead  to  the  establishment  of  the  principles  of  geography.  Such  a 
study  implies  the  attitude  of  the  judge  of  conditions  rather  than  of  the 
advocate  of  theories.  It  is  concerned  with  the  impartial  analysis  of  the 
conditions  of  life  in  a  region,  not  with  the  enunciation  of  a  theory  for 
which  evidence  is  to  be  adduced.  It  does  not  attempt  to  make  out  a 
case  for  the  potency  of  any  particular  element  of  the  environment,  but 
contents  itself  with  asking,  What  are  the  advantages  and  handicaps 
that  are  inherent  in  the  region  in  question?  The  purposes  of  such  a 
study  are  to  furnish  an  adequate  explanation  of  the  conditions  of  Hfe 
in  a  given  area  and  to  contribute  proved  statements  which  will  aid  in 
working  out  fundamental  principles. 

The  preparation  of  regional  monographs,  numerously  represented  in 
European  countries,  has  hardly  commenced  in  America.  A  century 
ago  the  conditions  and  resources  of  various  parts  of  our  country  engaged 
the  attention  of  many  observant  writers.  These  accounts  of  early 
travelers  constitute  in  fact  the  greater  part  of  our  geographic  literature 
to  this  day.  As  faciUties  for  observation  increased,  their  number  was 
reduced,  until  at  present  there  is  almost  no  contemporary  geographic 
literature  other  than  brief  papers.  If  the  curiosity  which  attaches  to 
the  unknown  has  disappeared,  the  need  of  correlated  information  about 
the  "parts  of  our  country  has  increased  as  its  parts  have  become  settled 
and  developed.  This  it  is  the  province  and  the  duty  of  the  geographer 
to  supply.  The  present  paper  considers  a  single  geographic  unit.  The 
Ozark  Highland  of  Missouri  was  selected  because  of  its  unusual  wealth 
of  geographic  responses  and  because  little  is  known  concerning  its  con- 
ditions and  possibilities.  The  size  of  the  area,  larger  than  Scotland 
and  as  large  as  Ireland,  has  precluded  an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the 
subject.  It  is  rather  a  reconnaissance,  which,  it  is  hoped,  may  lead  to 
more  detailed  studies. 

vii 


Vlll        •  PREFACE 


/ 


The  topic  is  treated  in  three  parts.  The  first  is  an  outline  of  the 
environment,  that  is,  a  sketch  of  the  region  and  a  statement  of  the 
geographic  factors.  Only  those  things  which  are  pertinent  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  conditions  under  which  the  people  live  are  introduced. 
Rock  formations  are  of  significance  in  this  connection  in  so  far  as  they 
have  determined  topographic  features,  soils,  and  mineral  resources,  and 
in  so  far  only.  No  attempt  is  made  to  'sketch  the  physiographic  history 
except  as  it  contributes  to  the  explanation  of  surface  features,  drainage 
conditions,  and  soils.  The  mineral  resources  need  discussion  only  in 
so  far  as  they  have  been' a  factor  in  the  development  of  the  region. 
Whatever  is  more  than  this  may  be  of  geologic,  physiographic,  or 
mineralogic  interest,  but  is  not  pertinent  to  geography.  The  various 
factors  of  the  environment  differ  in  importance  in  different  parts  of  the 
area.  By  evaluating  them  singly  and  collectively  it  is  possible  to  estab- 
lish contrasts  between  parts  of  the  highland  and  thus  to  determine  a 
number  of  smaller  unit  areas.  Each  of  these  subdivisions  has  internal 
unity  of  geographic  conditions,  and  is  set  off  from  its  neighbors  by  impor- 
tant points  of  contrast.  These  natural  subregions  become  the  units  of 
observation  in  the  sections  that  follow,  in  which  their  past  and  present 
utilization  is  observed  and  compared. 
/  The  second  part  considers  the  influences  of  environment  on  the 
settlement  and  development  of  the  different  parts  of  the  highland.}  Cer- 
tain portions  have  had  continuous  advantages,  as  others  have  been 
permanently  retarded  in  development.  In  some  parts  certain  geographic 
opportunities  resulted  in  a  period  of  early  growth,  soon  arrested,  whereas 
other  sections,  later  in  securing  a  start,  have  forged  to  the  front  rapidly. 
I  Three  racial  groups  have  possessed  a  part  of  the  area  in  turn,  with  curious 
contrasts  in  their  fortunes  under  the  same  environing  conditions.  This 
historical  portion  develops  its  argument  by  the  fullest  possible  use  of 
source  materials.  Wherever  possible,  statements  from  original  sources 
are  employed  to  bring  out  the  thread  of  geographic  influences  that  runs 
through  the  history  of  the  region. 

Finally,  economic  conditions  are  represented  as  they  exist  today, 
together  with  their  explanation  in  so  far  as  they  are  not  merely  the  con- 
tinuation of  institutions  the  beginnings  of  which  were  traced  in  the 
historical  section.  In  conclusion,  a  forecast  is  offered  of  the  lines  along 
which  the  future  of  the  region  will  be  worked  out. 
^^  The  study  here  submitted  is  the  outgrowth  of  long  acquaintance 
with  the  area  and  of  deep  affection  for  it.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  study  in  home 
geography,  a  study  of  the  old  home  with  its  many  and  vivid  associations. 


PREFACE  ix 

Later  residence  outside  of  ]\Iissouri  has  supplied  a  more  objective  view- 
point without  destroying  the  old  familiarity.  Systematic  field  work  in 
the  fall  of  1914  and  summer  of  191 5  has  supplemented  the  earlier 
acquaintance.  To  consider  the  region  as  an  outsider  has  been  impossible 
and  will  always  be.  With  the  increasing  distance  interposed  by  time 
and  space  there  yet  remain  forever  green  the  scenes  of  early  years.  The 
old  white  church,  astride  its  rocky  point,  overtopped  by  cedars  that 
grow  on  the  warm  rock  ledges,  forever  looks  forth  upon  the  fairest  valley. 
The  lower  slopes  are  abloom  with  red  clover,  or  golden  with  wheat. 
Wide  fields  of  blue-green  com  border  the  shaded  stream,  where  the  bass 
lurk  in  transparent  pools.  In  the  distance  forests  of  oak  mantle  the 
hillsides,  up  which,  past  spacious  farmhouses,  the  country  roads  wind. 
The  people  who  move  upon  the  scene  of  this  account  are  homefolks 
one  and  all.  Some  have  succeeded  better  than  others,  some  give  greater 
promise  than  others,  but  they  are  all  well  worth  knowing,  and  in  all 
cases  an  understanding  of  their  various  problems  of  making  a  living  goes 
far  to  explain  their  contrasted  conditions.  In  this  spirit  the  study  is 
undertaken. 

The  first  draft  of  the  manuscript  was  presented  before  the  Seminar 
in  Geography  at  the  University  of  Chicago  in  1915  and  there  subjected 
to  much  helpful  discussion.  The  several  parts  have  profited  by  intjsnsive 
reading  and  criticism  at  the  hands  of  Professors  W.  S.  Tower,  H.  H. 
Barrows,  and  J.  Paul  Goode.  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  express  in  any 
adequate  way  the  great  debt  I  owe  to  my  old  teacher  and  friendly 
counselor.  Professor  R.  D.  Salisbury,  in  the  carrying  out  of  this  work. 
From  its  first  planning  to  its  publication  his  aid  has  been  freely  given  in 
many  ways.  Grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  also  to  the  Geo- 
graphic Society  of  Chicago  for  making  possible  the  publication  of  this 
volume,  a  study  in  a  field  in  which  avenues  of  publication  have  not  yet 
been  established. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

List  of  iLLusxRAxfoNS xv 

/ 

PART  I.    THE  ENVIRONMENT 

CHAPTER 

I.  Introduction 3 

Location 3 

General  Character  of  the  Ozark  Highland 5 

11.  Rock  Formations;  Their  Influence  on  Topography  and  Soil  8 

Structure  of  the  Area 8 

Crystalline  Core 10 

Sedimentary  Formations 12 

Physiographic  Significance  of  the  Chert 16 

Solubility  as  Affecting  Underground  Drainage  and  Topo- 
graphic Forms •       .  18 

III.  Erosion  Cycles  and  Their  Topographic  Results      .       .       ,  21 

Grade-Levels 21 

Present  Stage  of  Dissection 22 

Characteristics  of  Streams  and  Their  Valleys    ....  23 

I\'.  Climate 27 

Winds  and  Storms 27 

Temperature  Conditions 28 

Humidity  and  Precipitation 31 

V.  Material  Resources '36 

Soils 36 

Residual  Soils 36 

Cherty  Limestone  Soils 36 

Non-cherty  Limestone  Soils 38 

Sandstone  Soils 39 

Igneous  Rock  Soils 40 

Transported  Soils 40 

Loess 40 

Alluvial  Soils 40 

Ridge-top  and  Prairie  Soils  of  Uncertain  Origin  41 

Influence  of  Slope  and  Exposure 41 

Land  \'alues            43 

xi 


xu 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 

IMinerals 45 

Lead  and  Zinc  Ores;  Baryte;  Copper       ....  45 

Iron  Ore 47 

Stone                47 

Clay 48 

Tripoli 48 

Salt .48 

Coal 48 

Variety  of  Mineral  Resources 49 

Waters 49 

Streams 49 

Springs  and  Underground  Waters 51 

Ponds        

Native  Life 

Distribution  of  Woodland  and  Prairie        ... 

Forest  Associations 

Game  and  Fish 


.  52 

.        .  52 

.  52 

.       ...  56 

•       •       •  59 

VI.  Geographic  Regions 61 

.  Bases  of  Subdivision 61 

Missouri  River  Border 62 

Mississippi  River  Border 65 

Springfield  Plain 66 

St.  Francois  Knob  and  Basin  Region         .       .       .       .       -67 

Courtois  Hills 68 

Osage-Gasconade  Hills 68 

White  River  Hills 69 

Central- Plateau 7° 


PART  II.     SETTLEMENT  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


VII.  French  Colonization 

Beginnings  of  Settlement 

Settlement  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Adjacent  Region 
Occupations  in  the  Ste.  Genevieve  District 

Salt  Making 

Lead  Mining 

Agriculture 

Trade        

Cape  Girardeau,  and  Settlements  on  the  ]\Ieramec 
French  in  the  Missouri  Valley      .... 

INIode  of  Habitation 

Condition  of  the  French  Settlements  and  Its  Causes 
Present  Distribution  of  the  French  Stock  . 


73 
73 
77 
81 

81 
83 
85 
87 
88 

89 
91 
92 

93 


TABLE  OF  CONTEXTS  xiii 

CHAPTER  PACE 

\III.  American  Settlements  in  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  Bor- 
ders AND  in  the  St.  Francois  Region 96 

Bases  of  Immigration 96 

Character  of  the  Immigrant  Stock 10 1 

Nuclei  of  Settlement  in  the  Mississippi  Border  and  the  St. 

Francois  Region 103 

Settlement  of  the  Missouri  River  Border 109 

Location  and  Improvement  of  the  Homestead  .        .       .       .112 

Productive  Occupations 116 

Hxmting  and  Fishing 116 

Field  Agriculture 117 

Stock  Raising 121 

Lead  Mining 123 

Iron  Mining 126 

Other  Industries 12S 

Trade  and  Transportation 129 

IX.  Settlement  of  the  Springfield  Plain 138 

Routes  of  Immigration  and  Pioneer  Locations  13S 

Nativity  of  the  Early  Settlers      .......  140 

Pioneer  Occupations 141 

Development  since  1850 143 

X.  Settlement  of  the  Ozark  Center 148 

Hunter  Frontiersmen 149 

Early  Lumbering  and  Mining 152 

Crop  Farming,  Stock  Raising,  and  Permanent  Settlement  155 

XI.  Germ.^n  Immigration 164 

Whitewater  Dutch 164 

Immigration,  1830  to  1850 165 

Later  Immigration;  Spread  of  the  German  Settlements.       .  170 


PART  ITT.  RECENT  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 

XII.  The  Unimproved  Land  and  Its  Uses 

Distribution  and  Ownership 
Timber  and  Its  Uses 
Hunting  and  Trapping  . 
The  Free  Range 
Promotion  Schemes 


177 

177 
179 

184 

185 
186 


xiv  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XIII.  Farming  Conditions i88 

Sizes  and  Values  of  Farms i88 

Crop  Growing 191 

Animal  Industries 198 

Truck  and  Fruit  Farming 204 

Conditions  of  Rural  Life 205 

XIV..  Mining  and  Manufacturing 209 

Importance  of  Mining  Industry 209 

Southwestern  Mining  Region 209 

Southeastern  Mining  Region 211 

Quarries  and  Associated  Industries     .       .       .       .       .       .213 

Minor  Mineral  Industries     .       .    •  .       .       .       .      '.       -214 

Water-Power  Development ,       -2x5 

Manufactures  Not  Dependent  on  Mining 216 

XV.  Transportation  AND  Commerce 218 

Waterways 218 

Railroads '.        .        .        .  218 

Roads 223 

Commercial  Centers .225 

Commercial  Relations  of  the  Highland  to  St.  Louis  and 

Kansas  City 228 

XVI.  The  Ozarks  as  Recreation  Ground 230 

Fishing  and  Hunting 230 

Family  Resorts .       .       .       .  231 

Proposals  of  a  State  Park 232 

Conclusion 234 

Index 241 


Fig. 

I. 

Fig. 

2. 

Fig. 

3- 

Fig. 

4- 

Fig. 

5- 

Fig. 

6. 

Fig. 

7- 

Fig. 

8. 

Fig. 

9- 

Fig. 

lO. 

Fig. 

II. 

Fig. 

12(7 

Fig. 

126 

Fig. 

13a 

Fig. 

13b 

Fig. 

14a 

Fig. 

14b 

Fig. 

15- 

Fig.  16.  — 

Fig.  17. 
Fig.  18. 

Fig.  19. 

Fig.  20. 

Fig.  21. 
Fig.  22. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACE 

-Topography  of  the  Ozark  Highland 4 

-Geologic  Formations  .       . 9 

Section  across  Ozark  Highland 9 

-Relation  of  Igneous  and  Sedimentary  Rocks  in  a  Por- 
tion of  the  St.  Francois  Region     .       .       ,       .       '.  12 

-Intrenched  Course  of  the  Osage  River  above  Bagnell  24 

Block  Diagr.\m  of  an  Intrenched  Meander       ...  25 

■January  Isotherms 29 

Temperature  Record  for  Springfield  for  Nineteen- 
Year  Period 29 

Average  Anntjal  Precipitation 30 

Record  of  Precipitation  at  Springfield  for  Nin'eteen- 

Year  Period,  1888-1906 32  ' 

Soil  Map 37 

Assessed  Value  of  Lantj  per  Acre  in  Osage  County  42 

Soil  Map  of  Osage  County 42 

Assessed  Yalue  of  Land  per  Acre  in  Pulaski  County    .  43 

Soil  Map  of  Pulaski  County 43 

Assessed  Value  of  Land  per  Acre  in  Iron  County  .  44 

Soil  Map  of  Iron  County 45 

Distribution   of    Prairie    and    Woodland    in    Cooper 

County    .       .       .  • 54 

Distribution    of    Prairie    and   Woodlant)   in    Miller 

County 55 

"Pineries"  in  Ozark  County,  1855 57 

•Geographic    Provinces    of    the    Ozark    Highland    of 

Missouri 62 

Profile  across  Missouri  River  Border  from  Warren- 
ton  THROUGH  Bourbon  to  the  Mer.\mec  River  .  63 
Contact  between  Missouri  River  Border  and  Osage- 
Gasconade  River  Hills  at  Versailles  ....  64 
Distribution  of  French  Influence  in  Missouri  94 
Areas  Having  a  Population  of  More  than  Ten  to  the 

Square  Mile  in  1800 97 

XV 


XVI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Fig.  23.  — Population  of  Missouri,  1820-21 98 

Fig.  24.  — Population  of  IMissouri,  1830 99 

Fig.  25.  — Order  of  Land  Entries  in  Osage  County    ....  104 

Fig.  26.  — Order  of  Land  Entries  in  Hickory  County  157 
Fig.  27.  — Distribution   of   Population  in  Missouri  of  Foreign 

Birth  or  Parentage 173 

Fig.  28.  —Land  Too  Rough  for  Field  Cultivation  .  .  .  .177 
Fig.  29.  — Relation  of  Cleared  Lant)  to  Forest  in  a  Portion  of 

the  Clarksville  Soil  Area 179 

Fig.  30.  — Percentage  of  Land  in  Farms  in  Missouri         .       .       .180 

Fig.  31.  — Average  Size  of  Farms 181 

Fig.  32.  — Average  Number  of  Acres  of  Improxtd  Lant)  per  Farm  182 

Fig.  2>3-  — Lant*  Values  in  Missouri,  1910 190 

Fig.  34.  — Yield  of  Corn  per  Square  Mile  of  Impro\'ed  Farmlant)s  193 
Fig.  35.  — Yield  of  Wheat  per  Square  Mile  of  Improved  Farm- 
lands         194 

*  Fig.  36.  — Yield  of  Oats  per  Square  Mile  of  Improved  Farmlands  195 

Fig.  37.  — Yield  of  Hay  per  Square  Mile  of  Improved  Farmlands  197 

Fig.  38.  — Number  of  Cattle  per  Square  Mile 200 

Fig.  39.  — Dairy  Products 201 

Fig.  40.  — Number  of  Hogs  per  Square  Mile 202 

Fig.  41.  — Value  OF  Poultry  ANT)  Eggs 203 

Fig.  42.  — Principal  Areas  of  Mineral  Production     ....  210 

Fig.  43.  — Air-Line  Distances  from  Railroads 219 

Fig.  44.  — Population  in  1910 235 


Plate  I. — a,  Pilot  Knob.  A  Noted  Porphyry  Elevation  of  Typically 
Symmetrical  Form;  b,  Shut-in  Portion  of  St.  Francois  Valley  in 
St.  Fr-ancois  County. 

Plate  II.— a,  h,  At  a  Shut-in  near  Hunt's  Farm,  Reynolds  County; 
c,  Outline  of  Cherty  Limestone,  Probably  Potosi,  in  the  FARii- 
ington  Basin. 

Plate  III. — a,  Cedar  Glade,  Typical  of  Chert-free  Leveestone  Areas. 
Bonne  Terre  Formation,  Ste.  Gene\teve  County;  b,  Spring  at 
Waynes\tlle,  Pulaski  County,  Issuing  from  Base  of  Cliff  of 
Gasconade  Cherty  Limestone. 

Plate  IV. — a,  Little  Pin-ey  Creek  near  Newburg;  b,  Chert-floored 
Bed  of  Roubidoux  Creek  at  Waynes\tlle. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xvii 

Plate  \'. — a,  Cave  at  Oz.\rk,  jNIissouri;  b,  UpLA^rD  Scene  near  Sullivan, 
Franklin  County,  Showing  Characteristic  Even  Sky  Line  of  the 

OZARKS. 

Plate  \'I. — a,  Undissected  Upland  South  of  Licking,  Texas  County, 
IN  the  Heart  of  the  Ozarks;  b.  Abandoned  Farm  on  Berry vtlle 
Soil,  near  Forsyth,  Taney  County. 

Plate  VH. — a,  Intrenched  Meander  of  James  River  above  Galena; 
b,  Meander  Loop  on  James  River  at  Virgin  Bluff. 

Plate  \TII. — a,  Bluff  on  Big  Piney  Fork  of  Gasconade  above  New- 
town, Pulaski  County;  b,  Bluff  on  James  River  below  Galena. 

Plate  IX. — a,  Field  in  Howell  Soil  near  Ava,  Douglas  County; 
b,  Pasture  and  Stone  Fence  on  Howell  Soil,  near  Ava,  Douglas 
County. 

Plate  X. — a,  Loess  Slopes  South  of  jNIissouia  River,  Gasconade 
County;  b,  Bottom  Field  Undercut  by  Roubidoux  Creek,  Pulaski 
County. 

Plate  XL — a,  Contrast  in  Stoniness  Agreeing  with  Contrasted  Ex- 
posure OF  Slope;  b,  Big  Blue  Spring,  near  Bourbon. 

Plate  XII. — a.  Sink  Hole  near  Newtown,  Pulaski  County;  b,  Upland 
Scene  in  ^Missouri  River  Border  near  Hermann. 

Plate  XIII. — Mississippi  Rfver  Bluffs  near  McCoy. 

Plate  XIV. — a,  Rugged  Flint  Hills  at  Hahatonka,  Camden  County; 
b.  On  the  Western  Edge  of  the  Central  Plateau,  Cedar  Gap. 

Plate  XV. — a,  Floating  Out  Ties  at  Boss,  on  Huzzah  Creek;  b,  Clear- 
ing Land  in  Howell  County. 

Plate  X\T. — a.  Clearing  South  of  Vienna,  :\Iaries  County;  b,  Corn- 
fields NE.\R  Lebanon,  Laclede  County. 

Pl.\te  xvii. — a,  Upland  Pasture  near  Bourbon,  Crawford  County; 
b,  Angor-a  Goats  in  Laclede  County. 

Plate  XVIIL— a,  Horse  Show  at  Licking,  Texas  County;  b,  Apple 
Orchard  at  Lebanon 

Plate  XIX. — o,  Picking  Peaches  in  Southeastern  Missouri;  b,  Spring- 
House  near  Sitllfvan. 

Plate  XX. — c.  Log  House  in  Big  River  Township,  St.  Francois  Coun-ty- 
b.  Log  House  and  Log  Smokehouse  near  Galena,  Stone  County. 

Plate  XXI. — Hill  Farm  in  Polk  County. 

Plate  XXII.— a,  Prairie  Farm  near  Sullivan,  Franklin  Coun-ty; 
b,  Schlicht  Springs  Mill,  Pulaski  County. 


xviii     ^  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Plate  XXIII. — a,  Frisco  Railroad  Approaching  the  Gasconade  Valley 
FROM  THE  East  by  Descending  Little  Piney  Creek;  b,  Frisco  Rail- 
road, Kansas  City-Memphis  Branch,  Located  on  Divide  betwteen 
Gasconade  ant)  White  Ri\rER  Basins,  at  Cedar  Gap. 

Plate  XXIV. — a,  Road  along  the  Crest  of  a  Flint  Ridge  near 
Hahaton^a;  b,  Unimproved  Chert-surfaced  Road,  Characteristic 
OF  All  Parts  of  the  Ozarks  Which  Have  a  Cherty  Soil. 

Plate  XXV. — a,  Gullied  Road  near  Hermitage;  b,  Road  South  of 
Doe  Run. 

Plate  XXVI. — a,  Ford  on  Spring  Branch,  White  River;  b,  Road  Located 
ALONG  Valley  Side,  beyond  Reach  of  Floods. 


PART  I 

THE  ENVIRONMENT 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 
LOCATION 

The  Ozark  Highland,  locally  known  as  "the  Ozarks,"  lies  in  five 
states,  Missouri,  Arkansas,  Oklahoma,  Kansas,  and  Illinois.  The 
boundaries  are  for  the  most  part  ill-defined,  and  estimates  of  area 
therefore  may  vary  considerably:  the  northern  limit  is  placed  usually 
near  Glasgow,  Missouri,  in  Lat.  39°  15'  N.,^  and  the  southern  limit  lies 
near  Van  Buren,  Arkansas,  in  Lat.  35°  30'.  On  the  east  Shawneetown, 
Illinois,  in  Long.  88°  15'  W.,  may  be  taken  as  the  extreme  limit,  and  on 
the  west  the  Neosho  River  of  Oklahoma,  in  Long.  95°  15'.^  The  high- 
land as  thus  limited  forms  a  rude  parallelogram,  the  long  axis  running 
northeast  and  southwest.  The  total  area  may  be  estimated  at  50,000 
square  miles,  of  which  about  33,000  are  in  southern  Missouri,  13,000  in 
northern  Arkansas,^  3, 000  in  northeastern  Oklahoma,  and  the  remainder 
in  the  Shawnee  Hills  of  southern  Illinois  and  in  the  southeastern  corner 
of  Kansas.  The  highland  occupies  nearly  half  of  the  area  of  Missouri 
and  all  of  the  state  south  of  the  Missouri  River,  except  the  Southeastern 
Lowlands  and  a  triangular  area  in  the  Osage  Plain  on  the  west  (Fig.  i). 

The  region  is  a  few  hundred  miles  southeast  of  the  center  of  the 
United  States  and  constitutes  the  most  centrally  located  highland  of 
the  country.  Together  with  the  adjacent  Ouachita  Mountains,  it 
forms  the  only  extensive  tract  of  elevated  land  between  the  Appalachian 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  distance  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  is,  on 
the  average,  little  more  than  five  hundred  miles. 

With  regard  to  lines  of  communication  the  location  of  the  area  is 
singular.  If  the  Shawnee  Hills  are  disregarded,  the  boundaries  of  the 
Ozark  region  are  outlined  roughly  by  navigable  ri\'ers.  These  are,  on 
the  east  the  Mississippi,  on  the  north  the  Missouri,  on  the  south  the 
Arkansas,  and  on  the  west  the  Arkansas,  Neosho,  and  Osage.  Great 
lines  of  land  travel  gird  the  afea  similarly.     The  most  historic  route  to 

'  Marbut,  Missouri  Gcol.  Sure.,  X,  Plate  II;  .Adams,  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Tweuly- 
secori  Ann.  RepL,  Part  II,  Plate  VHI. 

'  Snider,  Oklalioma  Geol.  Surv.,  Bull,  g,  chap.  ii. 

3  Estimated  from  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance  of  tlie  Ozark  Region  (Bureau  of 
Soils,  191 1),  Fig.  2. 

3 


4  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

the  Far  West  follows  the  northern  margin  of  the  Ozarks.  At  St.  Louis 
routes  from  Chicago  and  the  upper  Mississippi  Valley  converge,  and 
thence,  skirting  the  eastern  border  of  the  Ozarks,  lead  to  New  Orleans 
and  other  points  in  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley.  Routes  between 
Kansas  City  and  the  South  flank  the  Ozarks  on  the  west.  All  of  these 
highways  are  located  marginally  to  the  highland,  almost  irrespective  of 


Fig.  I. — Topography  of  the  Ozark  Highland.  Contour  interval,  250  feet  (after 
U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Folio  iig,  and  Dictionary  of  Altitudes,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  VTII). 
The  area  of  this  study  is  inclosed  by  a  solid  black  line. 


its  topographic  character.  Only  two  important  direct  lines  of  communi- 
•cation  extend  across  the  Ozarks,  one  between  St.  Louis  and  the  South- 
west, the  other  between  Kansas  City  and  the  Southeast.  One  railroad 
trunk  line  from  St.  Louis  to  the  Southwest,  the  "Frisco,"  crosses  the 
Ozarks.  Due  to  the  fact  that  the  long  axis  of  the  Ozarks  runs  nearly 
parallel  to  this  line,  three  other  rail  routes,  which  serve  the  same  terri- 
tory but  go  around  the  highland,  are  almost  as  direct.     From  Kansas 


INTRODUCTION  5 

City  there  are  two  railroads  running  southeast  across  the  Ozarks. 
These  roads,  however,  are  recent  and  are  not  as  yet  of  great  commercial 
importance.  The  Ozarks  occupy,  therefore,  almost  an  insular  position 
with  reference  to  great  thoroughfares,  being  closely  surrounded,  but 
hardly  invaded,  by  them.  This  condition  is  due  in  part  to  the  obstacles 
which  the  region  presents  to  travel,  but  more  largely  to  its  accidental 
location  outside  of  direct  lines  of  communication  between  important 
points. 

GENERAL   CHARACTER   OF   THE   OZARK  HIGHLAND 

Because  of  the  complex  topography  and  other  readily  apparent 
contrasts  between  its  different  parts,  the  Ozark  region  has  been  given 
various  appellations.  The  term  "mountains"  is  the  oldest,  and  is  most 
employed  in  the  very  rugged  Arkansas  portion,  where  the  name  "Ozark" 
also  originated.^  It  is  not  appropriate  to  the  Missouri  part  of  the 
Ozarks,  has  never  been  in  common  use  there,  and  is  resented  by  the 
inhabitants.  The  term  "plateau"  properly  describes  only  the  western 
third  and  is  so  limited  in  local  usage.  For  the  remainder  of  the  area  it 
is  correct  only  in  a  technical  physiographic  sense,  and  is  decidedly  mis- 
leading otherwise.  For  certain  large  but  discontinuous  tracts  the  name 
"hills"  is  appropriately  used.  "Dome"  and  "uplift"  are  geologic, 
not  geographic,  expressions.  The  name  best  suited,  because  not  too 
specific,  is  "highland."  It  is  applicable  to  the  mountain,  plateau,  and 
hill  sections,  as  well  as  to  the  gently  sloping  border  areas. 

The  Ozark  Highland  has  three  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
surface:  (i)  elevation  generally  higher  than  that  of  the  surrounding 
regions;  (2)  greater  relief;  and  (3)  general  accordance  of  summit  levels. 

'  The  abbreviation  of  place-names  is  common  with  the  French  of  America.  For 
instance,  the  old  village  of  Cahokia,  across  the  river  from  St.  Louis,  was  known  as 
Caho  (Stirling  [1765],  in  Illinois  Historical  Collections,  XI,  125).  Kaskaskia  was 
spoken  of  occasionally  as  Cas  (AUiott,  in  Roberts,  Louisiana  under  Spain,  France,  and 
the  United  States,  p.  133).  Many  French  place-names  were  proper  nouns  compounded 
by  means  of  a  preposition  with  a  common  descriptive  noun,  as  prairie,  river,  portage, 
post,  etc.  In  such  cases  popular  usage  not  uncommonly  retained  only  the  preposition 
and  part  of  the  proper  name.  The  village  on  the  Kaskaskia  became  shortened  to 
Au  Ka  (Monette,  History  of  the  Valley  of  tlw  Mississippi,  1, 43),  the  river  landing  being 
still  known  as  Okaw.  Similarly,  the  French  post  on  the  Arkansas,  and  the  river,  were 
shortened  to  "aux  Arcs"  or  "  Aux-arcs"  (Bradbury,  in  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels, 
V,  36).  In  pioneer  days  the  names  ".Arkansas"  and  "Ozark"  were  used  inter- 
changeably, and  were  applied  to  the  .Arkansas  River,  its  drainage  basin,  the  highland 
north  of  it,  and  the  post  near  its  mouth  (cf.  Ashe,  Travels  in  America,  pp.  273,  275, 
276;  also  Cuming,  "Tour  of  the  Western  Country',"  in  Early  Western  Travels,  IV,  299). 
It  is  noteworthy  that  the  region  first  received  a  distinctive  name  in  its  most  rugged 
portion,  although  this  was  not  the  first  part  to  be  explored  nor  to  be  settled. 


6  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Genetically  the  highland  is  an  elevated  peneplain,  developed  upon 
domed  rocks,  which  are  for  the  most  part  highly  resistant  to  erosion. 
It  has  been  uplifted  very  unevenly,  and,  being  composed  of  different 
rocks  situated  at  exceedingly  varying  distances  from  vigorous  drainage 
lines,  its  various  portions  have  been  modified  in  different  ways  and  to 
different  degrees  by  erosion.' 

The  general  character  of  the  topography  is  shown  in  Fig.  i.  The 
highest  elevations  are  in  the  Boston  Mountains  of  Arkansas  and  are 
about  2,300  feet  above  sea-level.  The  average  elevation  of  the  Boston 
Mountains  is  about  1,800  feet,  and  the  height  above  the  adjoining  Arkan- 
sas Valley  1,400  to  1,800  feet.  This  section  has  been  sculptured  into 
truly  mountainous  forms  by  the  Arkansas  and  White  river  systems. 
The  Ozark  region  proper  lies  for  the  most  part  north  of  the  White  River. 
It  forms  a  broad  elliptical  shield,  the  main  axis  of  which  extends  from  the 
northwestern  corner  of  Arkansas  through  Springfield  and  Cedar  Gap, 
Missouri,  to  the  Mississippi  River  in  Ste.  Genevieve  County.  This 
axis  is  also  the  principal  watershed.  Near  its  eastern  end  are  several 
isolated  knobs  more  than  1,700  feet  above  sea-level,  one,  Taum  Sauk,  in 
Iron  County,  being  approximately  1,800  feet.  In  the  south\^estern  part 
of  Missouri,  in  Wright  County,  are  a  number  of  elevations  about  1,700 
feet  above  the  sea.  The  average  elevation  of  the  crest  is  estimated  at 
1,300  feet.^  The  northern  slope  of  the  shield  is  more  gentle  than  the 
southern,  because  it  is  longer  and  also  because  the  elevation  of  the  glacial 
prairies,  which  are  adjacent  to  it  on  the  north,  is  four  to  five  hundred 
feet  above  that  of  the  lowlands  of  the  Mississippi  Embayment  which  lie 
at  its  southeastern  margin.  Most  of  the  eastern  crest  lies  well  below 
the  average  of  the  whole  western  flank. 

The  western  part  of  the  Missouri  Ozarks,  although  highest  on  the 
whole,  is  most  remote  from  drainage  lines,  and  has  therefore  been  eroded 
only  shghtly,  whereas  most  of  the  eastern  region  is  maturely  dissected. 
The  western  part  is  still  a  plateau;  the  eastern,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
principally  rough  hill  country,  formed  by  the  intricate  dissection  of  the 
plateau  surface.  The  borders  have  in  general  a  less  rugged  topography 
than  the  interior  sections,  because  of  lower  original  elevation,  and,  except- 
ing the  western  border,  because  their  erosion  is  well  past  the  stage  of 
greatest  relief. 

'  Bradbury,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  244-45,  first  expressed  the  true  character 
of  the  Ozarks.  Comparing  them  to  the  plains,  he  said :  "Although  the  surface  is  more 
broken  and  uneven,  it  is  entirely  owing  to  the  more  powerful  action  of  the  streams." 

*  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  p.  1 1 . 


INTRODUCTION  7 

The  Ozarks  are  bounded  on  all  sides  by  plains.  Except  on  the  south 
and  southeast  the  transition  from  highland  to  plain  is  very  gradual. 
On  the  southeast  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi  Embayment  forms  a 
clear-cut  boundary.  On  the  south  the  Boston  Mountains  constitute 
a  well-defined  escarpment  bordering  on  the  Arkansas  lowlands.  On  the 
basis  of  elevation  the  borders  on  the  west,  north,  and  east  are  transition 
zones  many  miles  in  width.  With  the  aid  of  additional  geographic 
criteria  it  is  possible  to  limit  these  boundaries  more  narrowly  (Figs,  i 
and  17).  For  the  state  of  Missouri  they  are  determined  as  follows: 
(i)  On  the  west,  from  the  state  line  north  of  Joplin  to  the  Rock  Island 
Railroad  north  of  Warsaw,  the  boundary  is  roughly  at  the  contact 
between  the  Mississippian  and  Pennsylvanian  rock  series  and  is  marked 
appro.ximately  by  the  courses  of  the  Spring  and  Sac  rivers.'  {a)  These 
rivers  occupy  a  broad,  shallow  trough,  which  divides  the  Ozarks  from 
the  high  prairies  to  the  west,  {b)  To  the  east  of  the  two  rivers  the  soil 
is  derived  mostly  from  cherty  limestones  typical  of  the  Ozarks.  To  the 
west  it  is  formed  from  shales,  yielding  a  type  of  soil  almost  unknown  in 
the  Ozarks.  (c)  Where  dissected  the  Mississippian  limestone  gives  rise 
to  narrow,  steep-sided  valleys,  whereas  the  Pennsylvanian  shales  result  in 
wide,  gently  sloping  valleys,  {d)  The  chief  mineral  wealth  of  the  region 
included  within  the  western  Ozarks  is  zinc  and  lead;  in  the  adjacent 
regions  the  chief  resources  are  coal,  oil,  and  gas.  (2)  From  the  vicinity 
of  Warsaw  north  to  the  Missouri  River  the  boundary  is  drawn  chiefly 
on  the  basis  of  contrasts  in  dissection  and  in  soil,  again  based  partly  on 
differences  in  geologic  formations.  (3)  Along  the  Missouri  the  belt  of 
hills  north  of  the  river  is  included.  Their  narrow,  winding  ridges, 
capped  with  a  heavy  clay  soil,  their  many  deep  valleys  with  cherty 
stream  beds  and  numerous  cliffs,  and  their  relief  stamp  these  hills  as  a 
counterpart  of  the  region  south  of  the  river.  Their  topography  is  the 
expression  of  a  well-advanced  dissection  of  rock  formations.  The 
country  to  the  north  of  this  belt  is  smooth  glacial  prairie. 

In  the  following  chapters  of  Part  I  the  various  geographic  conditions 
which  give  individuality  to  the  Ozark  Highland  of  Missouri  and  differ- 
entiate its  parts  will  be  examined.  The  main  thesis  is  taken  up  in 
Parts  II  and  III  and  consists  of  an  inquiry  into  the  manner  and  extent 
of  geographic  influences  in  the  past  development  and  present  utilization 
of  the  region  by  man. 

'  See  geological  map  of  Missouri;  also  soil  map,  in  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance. 


CHAPTER  II 

ROCK  FORMATIONS  AND  THEIR  INFLUENCE  ON  TOPOGRAPHY 

AND  SOIL 

STRUCTURE   OF   THE  AREA 

Structurally  the  Ozarks  are  a  broad,  asymmetrical  dome,  whose  apex 
is  formed  by  the  igneous  rocks  outcropping  in  St.  Francois  and  adjacent 
counties  (Fig.  3).^  From  this  crystalhne  core  the  rocks  dip  outward  in 
all  directions,  well  beyond  the  limits  of  the  area  covered  in  this  report 
(Fig.  2).  Over  a  large  part  of  the  Ozark  Highland  the  doming  has  been 
so  slight  that  the  rocks  appear  to  the  eye  to  be  horizontal.  On  the 
margins  dips  in  general  are  steeper  than  in  the  central  parts  (Fig.  3), 
and  faults,  minor  folds,  and  fractures  have  developed.^  In  the  upHft 
is  included  the  complete  Paleozoic  section  of  Missouri  as  well  as  a  number 
of  pre-Cambrian  formations.  This  geologic  diversity  has  expressed 
itself  in  extraordinarily  varied  surface  features,  soils,  and  mineral 
resources-.  Geologic  structure  therefore  determines  the  principal 
geographic  contrasts  shown  by  different  parts  of  the  highland. 

As  a  result  of  the  doming  and  of  the  truncation  of  the  dome  by 
erosion,  the  rock  outcrops  are  arranged  in  concentric  belts  (Fig.  2). 
Near  the  margins  of  the  area  the  belts  are  most  numerous  and  narrowest, 
and  the  contrasts  in  the  resistance  of  the  rock  formations  are  greatest. 
Here  the  less  resistant  rocks  have  been  worn  down  to  lowland  strips, 
whereas  in  places  the  more  resistant  ones  form  escarpments.  Ste. 
Genevieve  County,  on  the  eastern  border,  has  three  escarpments  and 
three  lowlands,  with  an  almost  diagrammatic  development  of  scarp 
faces,  back  slopes,  and  frontal  lowlands.^  On  the  northern  and  eastern 
borders,  in  spite  of  the  drainage,  which  is  transverse  to  the  strike  of  the 
rocks,  several  scarps  are  recognizable,  and  in  places  these  form  con- 
spicuous features  of  the  landscape.  The  largest  escarpment  of  the 
Ozark  region,  as  well  as  one  of  its  most  striking  landmarks,  is  on  the 
western  margin,  where  the  BurUngton  limestone  forms  a  ridge  several 

'  Winslow,  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Folio  154,  p.  4. 

'  Ha  worth,  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  Amer.,  XI,  240, 

3  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  X,  29-73,  gives  an  extended  discussion  of 
these  scarps. 

8 


ROCK  FOR.]fATIONS  g 

hundred   feet   high,   extending   from   Arkansas  northward   into   Polk 
County. 

In  spite  of  the  banded  character  of  the  outcrops,  the  drainage  is 
not  adjusted  conspicuously  to  rock  structure.  This  is  due  to  (i)  the 
slope  of  the  surface,  (2)  the  stage  of  erosion,  and  (3)  the  relatively  small 


Fig.  2. — Geological  formations  (after  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines  and  official 
handbook  of  1904,  The  Stale  oj  Missouri). 


B    0   S_T  O  M        MOVWTAINf 


arrrxEis: 


JT  m»Mcor%  nrt. 


Fig.  3. — Section  across  Ozark  Highland  along  line  A-A'  of  Fig.  i  (after  U.S. 
Geol.  Surv.,  Folio  119). 


areas  of  outcrop  of  weak  rocks.  The  drainage  is  in  large  part  down  the 
slope  of  the  dome,  radial  from  its  center;  the  larger  streams  therefore 
tend  to  have  courses  normal  to  the  strike  of  the  rocks.  Except  on  the 
borders  of  the  Ozarks,  the  present  cycle  of  erosion  is  not  sufficiently 
advanced  for  an  extensive  adjustment  of  tributaries  to  the  weaker  beds, 


lO         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

which,  moreover,  have  small  and  discontinuous  outcrops.  In  addition 
to  the  escarpment  areas  of  the  border  sections,  adjustment  of  drainage 
has  taken  place  principally  in  the  apex  area  of  the  geologic  dome.  In 
the  latter,  which  corresponds  to  St.  Francois  County  and  parts  of  the 
adjacent  counties,  contrasts  in  resistance  of  rock  formations  are  greatest 
and  consequently  the  greatest  amount  of  adjustment  has  taken  place. 

CRYSTALLINE   CORE 

The  crystalline  rocks  of  Missouri  lie  within  an  area  about  seventy 
miles  square  (Fig.  2)}  Their  main  outcrop  is  in  a  compact  body,  situated 
south  of  Bismarck  between  the  two  lines  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad. 
Chiefly  to  the  south  and  west  of  this  mass  are  many  isolated  outcrops, 
which  are  scattered  through  eleven  counties.  The  largest  of  these  have 
a  diameter  of  eight  to  twelve  miles,  whereas  others  are  but  a  few  rods 
across.  The  contact  surface  of  the  igneous  rocks  is  irregular,  due  in 
part  to  bowing  and  folding,  but  largely  to  a  topography  of  great  rehef 
at  the  time  of  their  burial  beneath  the  Cambrian  sediments.^  Erosion 
is  re-excavating  this  buried  mountain  mass  ii^  very  irregular  fashion.  The 
smallest  outcrops  have  in  general  been  uncovered  most  recently.  The 
longer  the  outcrops  of  igneous  rock  have  been  exposed  to  erosion 
the  greater  are  their  areas  and  their  relief. 

The  two  kinds  of  crystalline  rocks  which  are  important  topographi- 
cally are  rhyolite,  locally  kno^\^l  as  "porphyry,"  and  granite.  The 
area  of  outcrop  of  the  rhyolite  is  about  three  times  as  great  as  that  of 
the  granite,  the  latter  being  dominant  only  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
crystalline  rock  areas,  between  Fredericktown  and  Doe  Run. 

The  igneous  rocks  are  by  far  the  most  resistant  formations  of 
the  Ozark  Highland,  the  compact  porphyry  excelling  in  this  respect  the 
coarser-textured  granite.  As  a  result,  these  rocks,  and  especially 
the  porphyry,  form  the  highest  and  most  conspicuous  elevations  of  the 
state.  It  is  asserted  that  their  elevation  is  in  part  the  result  of  recent 
local  upwarping.3  In  the  St.  Francois  region  the  hills  of  igneous  rock 
rise  from  500  to  843  feet  above  the  surrounding  plain,  which  is  underlain 
by  sedimentary  rocks.  The  form  of  these  elevations  is  rather  aptly 
described  by  the  popular  name  "knob."  In  principal  part  they  are 
extraordinarily   symmetrical   cones   with   small   summit   areas.     Pilot 

'  Keyes,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  VIII,  84. 

'  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  17. 

3  Keyes,  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  Amer.,  VII,  374. 


ROCK  FORMATIONS  ii 

Knob  (Plate  I  a)  is  an  excellent  example.  The  granite  knobs  have 
larger  summit  areas  and  lesser  slopes  than  those  of  porphyry.  The 
slopes  rarely  exceed  20°,  and  in  the  case  of  the  granite  areas  are  consider- 
ably less.  The  symmetry  of  the  knobs  and  their  low  angle  of  slope  are 
due  largely  to  the  accumulation  of  talus.  Jointing  along  intersecting 
planes  has  broken  the  massive  rock  into  blocks,  which  are  usually  large 
in  the  case  of  the  granite,  small  and  very  angular  in  that  of  the  porphyry. 
The  blocks  of  coarse-textured  granite  readily  become  rounded  by 
weathering,  as  in  the  well-known  Elephant  Rocks  at  Graniteville,  an 
aggregation  of  huge  bowlders  resulting  from  spheroidal  weathering. 
The  residual  sand  and  clay  are  washed  down  slope,  and  the  rounded 
bowlders  in  time  roll  downhill.  Blocks  of  porphyry,  on  the  other  hand, 
weather  very  slowl\',  and  because  of  their  angularity  do  not  roll  down 
slope.  There  is  therefore  a  greater  tendency  for  the  granite  knobs  to 
possess  a  large  abutment  of  talus  than  is  the  case  with  the  porphyry. 
Granite  bowlders  become  lodged  in  the  beds  of  adjacent  streams  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  partially  blocking  them,  and  thus  cause  pools  and 
rapids  to  be  formed. 

Both  sorts  of  rock  give  rise  to  a  stiff  clay  soil,  which  is  thin  and  infer- 
tile. The  granite,  weathering  more  rapidly  than  the  porphyry,  is  con- 
cealed for  the  most  part  beneath  a  cover  of  mantle  rock.  On  the 
porphyry  knobs,  however,  jagged  rock  masses  protrude  conspicuously. 
Because  of  the  poor  soil  the  areas  of  igneous  rock  have  remained  forested 
in  the  main. 

Streams  which  flow  over  the  igneous  rocks  have  eroded  valleys  not 
much  wider  than  their  channels,  and  their  beds  are  marked  by  series  of 
rapids.  These  gorges  are  impassable,  or  nearly  so,  and  with  their  barren 
walls  and  turbulent  waters  afford  some  of  the  wildest  scenery  of  the 
Ozarks.  Many  stream  courses  are  in  igneous  rock  for  a  short  distance 
only,  traversing  in  numerous  cases  a  single  ridge.  Above  such  gorges 
most  of  the  streams  of  this  type  flow  in  broad  valleys,  floored  by  lime- 
stone or  sandstone,  their  beds  worn  down  to  grade  (Plate  lb).  The 
extensive  fields  and  numerous  roads  and  dwellings  above  the  gorge  are 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  wilderness  of  the  crystalline  rocks  below. 
These  places,  at  which  streams  cross  igneous  barriers,  are  called  "shut- 
ins''  (Plate  II  a,  b).  The  best  known  is  that  of  the  Arcadia  Valley, 
in  Iron  County,  where  the  "stream  cuts  directly  across  a  narrow  ridge 
of  porphyry,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  ridge  terminates  less 
than  a  mile  south  of  the  gap,  and  is  there  surrounded  by  limestone  strata 
in  which  the  creek  channel  could  have  been  cut  with  one-tenth  of  the 


12 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


energy  expended  in  excavating  its  present  course."'  Fig.  4  shows  the 
geologic  relations  of  a  number  of  these  shut-ins.  The  streams  at  such 
places  have  cut  through  the  sedimentary  rocks  into  the  buried  ridges  of 
igneous  rock,  and  are  therefore  superimposed.  Where  this  has  happened 
a  gorge  is  cut  and  a  local  base-level  is  developed  on  the  sedimentary  rock 
above  the  narrows.  The  shut-ins  isolate  the  valley  settlements  above 
them  very  effectively,  the  inhabitants  living  in  large  measure  inde- 
pendent of  other  settlements,  but 
with  close  social  relations  among 
themselves. 

For  each  example  of  superim- 
position  there  are  several  of  suc- 
cessful adjustment.  To  such  an 
extent  has  adjustment  taken  place 
that  almost  all  remnants  of  sedi- 
mentary rock  which  fill  old  de- 
pressions in  the  igneous  rock  have 
become  valleys  (Fig.  4,  Doe  Run, 
St.  Francois  River,  and  Washita 
Creek) .  As  a  result  the  sedimen- 
tary patches  are  being  stripped 
away  rapidly,  so  that  in  some 
cases  their  removal  hardly  in- 
volves considerations  of  geologic 
time. 

SEDIMENTARY   FORMATIONS 


|xAx|CrystaUine  Rocks 

Fig.  4. — Relation  of  igneous  and  sedi- 
mentary rocks  in  a  portion  of  the  St.  Fran- 
cois region.  Arrows  indicate  the  location 
of  gorges  in  the  crystalline  rocks,  above 
which  lie  "shut-ins"  (after  Missouri  Btir. 
Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  Plate  XV). 


The  sedimentary  rocks,  dis- 
posed around  the  crystalline  core, 
consist  of  limestones,  sandstones,  and  shales.  Predominantly  the  Ozark 
Highland  is  a  region  of  cherty  dolomitic  limestones.  This  is  true 
especially  of  the  central  Ozarks,  in  which  cherty  magnesian  lime- 
stones determine  the  surface  features  over  thousands  of  contiguous 
square  miles.  On  the  margin  of  the  area  lithologic  conditions  are 
more  complex,  sandstones  and  shales  are  more  abundant,  the  Hme- 
stones  are  less  cherty^  and  less  dolomitic,  and  the  formations  outcrop 
in  narrower  and  more  regular  belts.     These  conditions  have  helped  to 

^Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  Sheet  Report  III  (1894),  p.  10. 

'  An  early  soil  map  of  Missouri  differentiated  the  Ozark  border  soils  from  those  of 
the  center  chiefly  by  chert  content.     See  soil  map  in  The  State  of  Missouri  (1904). 


ROCK  FORMATIONS  13 

develop  a  contrast  both  in  topography  and  soils  between  the  central 
and  border  sections. 

The  stratigraphy  of  the  central  Ozarks  and  of  part  of  the  border 
region  is  known  very  imperfectly.  The  differentiation  of  the  Cambro- 
Ordovician,  as  shown  in  Fig.  2,  is  only  a  rough  approximation  but  indi- 
cates important  lithologic  differences  and  thus  enables  the  establishment 
of  contrasts  in  topography  and  soil. 

The  crystalline  rock  area  is  almost  surrounded  by  a  series  of  sedi- 
mentary rocks  of  very  inferior  resistance,  including  the  La  Motte  satid- 
stone,  Bonne  Terre  limestone,  and  Davis  shale.^  In  the  majority  of 
places  these  formations  are  not  distinguishable  from  each  other  by 
their  topography.  They  form  in  common  a  smooth  lowland,  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  rugged  topography  of  the  neighboring  igneous  masses 
and  to  the  ridges  of  the  Gasconade  and  Potosi  limestones  (Plates  I  b  and 
II  c).  On  its  eastern  margin  the  La  Motte  sandstone  forms  numerous 
high  knolls  of  almost  bare  rock,  erosion  remnants  due  to  a  hard  local  cap. 
Where  the  Bonne  Terre  limestone  is  being  eroded  vigorously,  steplike 
slopes  of  nearly  bare  rock  are  developed  (Plate  III  a).  In  most  places 
the  La  Motte  sandstone  has  a  covering  of  light,  sandy  soil.  The  soils 
of  the  Bonne  Terre  and  Davis  formations  are  moderately  heavy  clay 
loams,  commonly  red  or  gray,  and  are  probably  the  most  fertile  residual 
soils  of  the  Ozarks. 

A  scarp  of  the  Gasconade  and  Potosi  limestones  surrounds  the  La 
Motte-Bonne  Terre  group.  In  basins  of  the  latter  formations  these  more 
resistant  rocks  form  numerous  conspicuous  outliers  (Plate  II  c).  The 
Potosi  limestone,  with  the  very  similar  Gasconade  formation,  dominates 
the  topography  from  the  Meramec  River  south  to  the  alluvial  lowlands 
of  southeast  Missouri,  including  most  of  the  drainage  basins  of  the  Mera- 
mec, Current,  and  Black  rivers,  and  those  parts  of  the  St.  Francois  and 
Castor  systems  lying  south  of  the  crystalline  core.  The  Gasconade 
limestone  is  the  controlling  factor  also  in  the  topography  of  the  middle 
Gasconade  Valley  and  of  a  large  area  on  the  Osage  River  centering  in 
Camden  and  Miller  counties.  The  formations  consist  for  the  most  part 
of  dolomite  interbedded  with  large  quantities  of  chert.  Bed  rock  is 
rarely  seen  at  the  surface,  as  in  most  places  it  has  weathered  back  until 
it  is  protected  by  a  casing  of  chert.  The  chert,  being  fine-textured, 
comp^xt,  nearly  homogeneous,  chemically  inert,  and  in  large  masses, 
resists  erosion  with  a  high  degree  of  success.  In  places  the  apparent 
resistance  of  these  rocks  is  due  to  a  capping  of  hard  sandstone.     Because 

■  Buckley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  20-44. 


14         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

it  fractures  into  flattish  pieces  it  is  not  removed  readily  from  the  slope 
on  which  it  has  weathered  out.  After  a  time,  therefore,  its  loose  frag- 
ments form  a  riprap  on  the  hillsides,  which  checks  further  erosion. 

The  region  underlain  by  Gasconade  and  Potosi  limestones  has  the 
steepest  average  slopes  of  any  part  of  the  Ozarks.  Although  it  does  not 
have  the  greatest  relief,  it  is  the  most  rugged  highland  country  in 
Missouri,  constituting  a  maze  of  deep,  narrow  valleys  and  almost  knife- 
like ridges.  Many  of  the  tributary  streams  occupy  blunt-headed  valleys 
with  a  depth  of  one  to  two  hundred  feet.  Ordinarily  these  valleys  show 
only  obscure  traces  of  a  stream  channel.  They  are  lacking,  therefore, 
in  one  of  the  most  important  characteristics  of  stream-cut  valleys. 
Ozark  valleys  of  this  type  have  been  assigned  to  subterranean  solution, 
continued  until  the  roof  has  caved  in.*  For  valley  formation  by  this 
process  the  Gasconade  limestone  affords  the  proper  conditions.  Solu- 
tion is  extraordinarily  active  in  it,  as  is  attested  by  the  great  number  of 
large  caves  and  springs  and  by  the  small  amount  of  surface  drainage 
(Plate  III  b).  Because  of  the  thickness  and  resistance  of  the  chert  beds' 
the  intercalated  limestones  may  be  removed  to  considerable  depths  before 
the  skeleton  structure  of  the  chert  gives  way. 

The  soils  of  this  area  are  the  least  desirable  of  any  in  the  Ozarks, 
excepting  only  the  crystalline  rock  soils.  They  are  not  deficient  in 
fertility,  but  are  excessively  stony,  and  with  few  exceptions  the  slopes 
are  too  steep  for  ordinary  cultivation. 

The  Rouhidoux  sandstone  is  the  most  widely  distributed  clastic  forma- 
tion. It  was  named  after  a  tributary  of  the  upper  Gasconade,  on  which 
it  is  typically  developed.  It  "occupies  the  surface  of  many  of  the 
ridges  and  fiat-topped  divides  throughout  the  Ozarks."^  The  largest 
outcrop  is  in  Dent  County,  south  and  west  of  Salem.  Here  it  forms  a 
tract  of  fairly  smooth  land,  with  open,  shallow  valleys.  It  is  in  general 
not  resistant  to  erosion,  but  varies  greatly  in  character.^  The  soil 
derived  from  it  is  on  the  whole  poor,  thin,  and  easily  eroded,  as  well  as 
deficient  in  capacity  for  retaining  moisture  and  humus  materials. 

The  Jefferson  City  limestone  forms  a  belt  around  the  older  formations, 
unbroken  except  in  southeast  Missouri,  and  broadest  on  the  west  and 

'  This  origin  was  suggested  by  Nason  in  1892  (Missouri  Gcol.  Sure,  II,  92) .  Perdue 
{Jour.  GeoL,  IX,  47-50)  accounts  for  valleys  in  the  Arkansas  Ozarks  in  the  same 
manner.  Ball  and  Smith  come  to  a  similar  conclusion  in  Miller  County,  Missouri 
{Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2, 1,  6). 

=  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  60. 

3  Ibid. 


ROCK  FORMATIONS  15 

south.  The  formation  contains  several  beds  of  soft  argillaceous  dolo- 
mite, or  ''cotton  rock."  Chert  is  represented  abundantly,  but  certain 
horizons  are  quite  free  from  it.  Where  the  non-cherty  limestone  has 
been  subjected  to  vigorous  erosion  it  forms  conspicuous  outcrops  of 
bare  rock  or  ''  balds,"  as  in  the  White  River  region.'  Largely  because  of 
the  abundance  of  cotton  rock,  the  formation  weathers  rapidly  and  there- 
fore does  not  form  steep  slopes  as  a  rule.  Because  of  the  lithologic 
diversity  the  soil  is  also  of  varying  quality,  but  in  general  above  the 
average  of  the  Ozarks,  both  as  to  depth  and  fertiUty.  It  is  for  the  most 
part  heavy  clay,  some  of  it  chert-free,  some  mixed  abundantly  with 
chert.  On  exposure  much  of  the  chert  breaks  up  into  small  cubical 
fragments,  and  thereby  ceases  to  be  a  troublesome  factor  in  agriculture. 

The  remaining  formations,  younger  than  Cambro-Ordovician,  form 
for  the  most  part  narrow  outcrops  on  the  borders  of  the  highland  and  have 
varied  characteristics. 

The  St.  Peter  sandstone  extends  in  a  narrow,  interrupted  belt  from 
Callaway  to  St.  Charles  County,  and  thence  southward  to  Cape  Girar- 
deau County.  The  width  of  outcrop  at  its  maximum  is  eight  miles. - 
The  rock  is  composed  uniformly  of  fine,  poorly  cemented  sand  and 
weathers  rapidly,  forming  a  smooth  lowland  with  poor,  sandy  soil.  It 
is  overlain  as  a  rule  by  a  resistant  limestone.  In  combination  with  its 
cap  rock  the  St.  Peter  gives  rise  to  one  of  the  important  scarps  of  the 
eastern  and  northern  borders,  the  Crystal  Escarpment.^ 

The  St.  Peter  is  succeeded  by  a  score  of  other  formations  lying  within 
the  boundaries  of  the  Ozarks.  Most  of  these  are  of  very  limited  distribu- 
tion and  inconsiderable  thickness,  and  hence  not  of  significant  influence 
on  surface  and  soil.  Only  one,  the  Burlington  limestone  or  Boone  chert, 
determines  to  any  large  extent  surface  conditions  on  the  margins  of  the 
highland.  It  is  one  of  the  thickest  and  purest  limestones  of  the  state, 
except  for  its  massive  beds  of  chert.  The  formation  resists  erosion  very 
well.  Streams  which  have  trenched  it  have  for  the  most  part  formed 
narrow  valleys  with  numerous  cliffs  and  barren,  cherty  slopes.^  On  the 
western  and  eastern  flanks  of  the  Ozarks  the  limestone  is  underlain 
by  much  weaker  beds  and  has  formed  the  highest  and  most  persistent 
escarpment  in  the  state.''     In  southwest  Missouri  the  back  slope  of  the 

•  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  p.  34. 

^  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Sure.,  X,  38-40. 

J  Shepard,  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Water  Supply  and  Irrigation  Paper  igj,  p.  21. 

*  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  X,  41-43. 


l6  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

scarp  is  a  broad,  gently  rolling  plain,  in  which  the  city  of  Springfield 
lies  and  which  has  been  called  the  Springfield  Structural  Plain.'  Because 
of  the  flat  surface  a  deep  soil  has  been  formed,  which,  although  cherty, 
is  very  fertile.  On  the  north  and  east  the  formation  has  been  dissected 
more  severely  than  on  the  west.  In  interstream  areas  of  the  White 
River  basin,  on  the  Arkansas  border,  a  number  of  outliers  of  the  Burling- 
ton limestone  have  been  preserved.  They  form  conspicuous  buttes, 
overtopping  by  several  hundred  feet  the  hills  that  have  been  formed  by 
the  erosion  of  older  rocks.  They  are  called  "knobs"  or  "mountains" 
locally,  and  because  of  their  striking  position  in  the  landscape  they  have 
for  the  most  part  received  individual  names,  a  thing  of  rare  occurrence 
in  the  Ozarks. 

PHYSIOGRAPHIC   SIGNIFICANCE   OF   THE   CHERT 

The  Ozarks  contain  probably  more  chert,  or  flint,  as  it  is  called,  than 
any  other  similar  area.  Over  nine-tenths  of  the  surface  chert  is  so 
abundant  that  it  covers  the  roads,  chokes  the  stream  beds,  and  in  many 
places  all  but  obliterates  the  soil  (Plate  DC  a).  The  only  parts  of  the 
highland  largely  free  from  it  are  the  sandstone.  Bonne  Terre  limestone, 
and  Davis  shale  regions,  and  some  of  the  cotton-rock  areas  of  the  Jeffer- 
son City  limestone. 

The  chert  ranges  from  small  nodules  to  massive  beds.  In  most 
places  it  has  weathered  into  flattened  fragments  of  conchoidal  fracture. 
Because  of  this  form  it  is  moved  with  difficulty  by  the  agencies  of  erosion. 
Typically  the  chert  consists  almost  entirely  of  silica,  and  is  therefore 
little  subject  to  chemical  disintegration.  Because  of  its  hardness,  fine 
texture,  and  compactness  it  suffers  little  from  mechanical  weathering 
or  from  corrasion.  With  the  possible  exception  of  the  porphyry  it  is 
the  most  durable  material  in  the  Ozarks.  Consequently,  the  longer  the 
weathering  and  erosion  of  a  surface  the  greater  is  the  quantity  of  chert 
found  on  it,  if  the  underlying  formation  is  chert-bearing. 

Chert  aids  in  the  accumulation  of  soil,  especially  on  steep  slopes. 
Under  normal  conditions  there  is  enough  soil  on  the  flint  hills  for  the 
satisfactory  growth  of  trees  and  grasses,  even  where  slopes  are  steepest. 
Rock  exposures  are  rare.  In  the  Gasconade,  perhaps  the  chertiest  of  all 
formations,  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  a  rock  exposure  more  than  a  few 
feet  square,  unless  the  slope  is  being  undercut  by  a  stream.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  chert-free  cotton  rock  of  the  Jefferson  City  formation  and  also 
the  chert-free  Bonne  Terre  limestone  abound  in  bare  rock  surfaces. 

'  jMarbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Suro.,  pp.  60-65. 


ROCK  FORMATIONS  17 

These  are  called  "balds"  if  they  form  the  tops  of  hills,  otherwise  "glades" 
(Plate  Ilia).  The  upper  White  River  and  its  tributaries  east  of 
McDonald  County  form  a  region  of  many  balds  and  glades,  where  the 
chert-free  cotton  rock  of  the  Jefferson  City  limestone  outcrops  (Plate 
VI 6)/  Here  the  gleaming  white  limestone  shelves  are  interrupted 
horizontally  by  thin  lines  of  cedar  (Plate  III  a)  and  of  scrub  pine  which 
have  found  a  footing  on  the  narrow  ledges.  Scenically  this  region  is 
most  unlike  the  uniformly  tree-clad  slopes  of  the  flint  hills.  On  a 
smaller  scale  the  Big  Niangua  Valley  reproduces  these  conditions. 
In  the  flint-free  sections  the  weathered  material  may  be  washed  down 
the  steep  slopes  approximately  as  fast  as  it  is  formed.  The  flint  frag- 
ments, on  the  other  hand,  cling  to  the  slopes  on  which  they  have  weath- 
ered out,  and  between  them  soil  accumulates.  They  also  tend  to  keep 
the  soil  porous,  and  as  a  result  there  is  remarkably  little  soil  erosion, 
considering  the  angle  of  slope. 

The  characteristic  stream  bed  of  the  Ozarks  is  floore°d  with  a  thick 
bed  of  chert  fragments,  which  extend  the  width  of  the  channel.  These 
fragments  are  little  smaller  and  little  less  angular  than  the  chert  on  the 
hillsides.  Except  in  the  large  streams  there  is  little  rounded  gravel 
and  less  sand.  The  floor  of  such  a  stream  is  therefore  much  more  resist- 
ant than  are  the  margins  of  its  bed.  Consequently  even  swiftly  flowing 
streams  show  a  strong  tendency  to  accomplish  much  lateral  erosion 
(Plate  IV  a).  The  first  result  is  that  the  bed  develops  a  prodigious  width, 
in  many  instances  twenty  times  the  width  of  the  stream  at  ordinary  water 
stages.  A  diagrammatic  cross-section  of  such  a  bed  would  show  a 
strikingly  convex  surface,  with  the  stream  flowing  at  one  side  of  its  bed, 
and  at  low  water  an  irregular  staggard  line  of  pools  along  the  margins. 
Adjacent  to  the  water  is  a  wide  strip  or  "bar"  of  chert.  In  places  the 
stream  crosses  this  bar  to  the  opposite  margin  of  its  gravelly  bed.  At 
such  crossings  wide  shoals  or  "  riffles  "  are  developed.  It  is  characteristic 
of  Ozark  drainage  to  find  a  rapid  succession  of  riffles  and  pools,  with  the 
pools  flanked  by  wide,  white  "gravel  bars."  This  tendency  to  cut  later- 
ally, which  is  imposed  by  the  chert,  may  also  help  to  account  for  (i)  the 
relatively  great  width  of  Ozark  valley  floors  and  (2)  the  extraordinary 
degree  to  which  Ozark  streams  have  developed  meandering  habits, 
although  of  rapid  flow. 

One  of  the  early  Missouri  geologists  pointed  out  that  the  Ozark 
region  is  largely  lacking  in  the  brooks  so  familiar  to  every  eastern  land- 
scape.^   Perennial  surface  streams  are  usually  large  enough  to  be  called 

'  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  p.  35.  "  Xason,  Missouri  Geol.  Sure.,  II,  90. 


i8  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

rivers.  Valleys  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide  may:-hold  in  dry  seasons  only 
a  few  detached  pools.  This  is  not  due  to  any  dryness  of  climate,  but 
is  rather  the  result  of  the  large  quantity  of  chert  fragments  in  the  valleys. 
These  provide  underdrainage,  and  through  the  spaces  between  them  the 
water  moves  freely.  A  valley  bed,  therefore,  which  appears  dry  may 
have  a  moderate  amount  of  water  beneath  its  surface.  Shallow  pits 
dug  in  the  bed  of  a  creek  usually  fill  with  water  in  a  short  time.  The 
absence  of  water  in  the  smaller  valleys  is  also  partly  a  result  of  cavernous 
drainage. 

SOLUBILITY  AS   AFFECTING   UNDERGROUND   DRAINAGE   AND 
TOPOGRAPHIC   FORMS 

Because  the  Ozarks  are  made  up  largely  of  limestone,  solution  has 
been  an  important  factor  in  the  removal  of  rock  materials.'  It  is  impos- 
sible to  evaluate  the  relative  importance  of  corrasion  and  of  solution  in 
developing  the  present  surface.  The  fact,  however,  that  Hmestone 
pebbles  are  rare  on  many  Ozark  streams,  although  limestone  is  the  most 
common  rock  of  the  region,  indicates  the  great  importance  of  solution 
in  the  erosive  process.  The  extreme  clearness  of  Ozark  streams  is  due 
in  part  to  the  fact  that  much  of  theif  water  has  come  from  underground 
sources,  and  has  not  had  the  opportunity  to  gather  debris.  Solution  is 
retarded  in  some  sections  by  (i)  the  presence  of  massive  beds  of  chert 
underground,  blocking  the  passage  of  water,  and  (2)  by  the  extensive 
dissection  of  parts  of  the  region,  which  has  destroyed  the  continuity  of 
many  underground  drainage  channels  and  lowered  the  water  table. 
The  large  undissected  areas  of  the  central  Ozarks  and  of  the  western 
flank  furnish  the  best  conditions  for  the  collection  of  underground  water 
and  for  solution.^ 

The  ground  water  dissolves  passageways  for  itself  through  the  lime- 
stone, forming  numerous  caves  (Plate  Va).  In  this  way  an  under- 
ground drainage  net  is  formed,  which  may  be  nearly  as  complicated  and 
extensive  as  the  drainage  aboveground.  Some  of  the  underground 
passages  collect  water  from  a  wide  area.  They  form  small  subterranean 
rivers,  as  the  one  in  Marble  or  Marvel  Cave,  Stone  County,  and  finally 
issue  at  the  surface  in  huge  springs,  such  as  Bryce's  in  Dallas,  or  Haha- 
tonka  in  Camden  County.  On  the  western  margin  of  the  Ozarks  the 
Burlington   is   the   most   important   water-bearing   formation,   and   is 

'  A  popular  account  of  Ozark  caves  and  other  solution  features  is  in  Stevens, 
Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  chap.  x. 

'  Shepard,  op.  cit.,  p.  15. 


ROCK  FORMATIONS  19 

described  as  having  a  ''marvelous  system  of  underground  drainage."' 
In  virtually  all  of  the  other  limestones  springs  abound  to  a  similar  or  less 
degree.  With  increasing  dissection  of  the  surface  the  underground 
drainage  suffers  readjustment  and  former  channels  are  abandoned, 
appearing  here  and  there  on  hillsides  as  dry  caves  (Plate  III  b).  The 
Gasconade  limestone  especially  is  honeycombed  by  such  abandoned 
passages.  \t  lower  levels  this  formation  contains  a  remarkable 
wealth  of  springs  issuing  from  solution  channels  of  the  present  cycle 
(Plate  IIU).^ 

If  solution  continues  long  enough,  part  of  the  roof  of  an  underground 
passage  may  collapse.  In  this  way  many  of  the  numerous  sink  holes 
were  formed,  especially  those  in  the  little  dissected  central  districts  and 
in  the  Springfield  Plain.  Their  origin  is  indicated  by  their  linear  dis- 
tribution, outlining  the  course  of  the  underground  drainage  line,  and  by 
the  fact  that  in  places  streams  still  flow  beneath  the  sink  hole.^  Many 
of  the  sinks  are  several  hundred  feet  across  and  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet 
deep.  They  are  most  numerous  in  undissected  limestone  regions, 
although  many  square  miles  of  such  land  are  entirely  without  sink 
holes.  Rarely  more  than  two  or  three  are  found  within  a  single  section 
of  land.  On  the  eastern  margin  the  limestone  belt  between  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve and  Cape  Girardeau  is  marvelously  pitted  with  sinks,  which  are 
on  the  average  much  smaller  but  also  much  more  numerous  than  those 
of  the  central  or  western  portions.  South  of  Ste.  Genevieve  there  is 
scarcely  a  field  without  several.  Many  are  sufficiently  shallow  to  be 
cultivated.  Their  number  is  so  great  and  their  average  size  so  small  as  to 
give  to  the  upland  an  irregularly  rolling  character  similar  to  that  of  a 
terminal  moraine.  Brackenridge  explained  them  more  than  a  century 
ago  as  "  formed  by  the  washing  of  the  earth  into  fissures  of  the  limestone 

.  rock,"-*  and  Weller  similarly  ascribes  them  to  solution  along  joints.^ 

Solution  may  continue  underground  until  the  roof  of  a  cavern  col- 
lapses over  considerable  distances.  An  example  of  this  is  the  "  Panther's 
Den,"  in  Green  County,  really  a  sink  of  immense  size.*^     Similarly,  on 

^  the  crest  of  the  uplift,  east  of  the  Big  Piney  River,  there  are  small 
solution  basins,  which  contain  much  of  the  agricultural  land  of  that 

'  Shepard,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  XII,  19. 

'  Shepard,  U.S.  Geol.  Sure.,  Water  Supply  and  Irrigation  Paper  114,  p.  217. 

^  Shepard,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  XII,  19.  ., 

*  Vird:s  oj  Louisiana  (ed.  of  181 7),  p.  201. 

5  Personal  statement. 

'  Shepard,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  XII,  40. 


20  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

region.'  Two  well-known  solution  basins  have  been  thus  described: 
"Near  Thayer,  in  Oregon  County,  is  a  place  known  as  Grand  Gulf.  Here 
there  is  a  large  underground  stream  visible  for  a  short  distance,  and  this 
is  generally  believed  to  be,  and  probably  is,  the  feeder  of  the  Mammoth 
spring  in  Arkansas.  Sinking  Creek,  in  Shannon  County,  flows  as  a  sur- 
face stream  for  a  long  distance.  A  few  miles  from  where  it  empties 
into  Jack's  Fork  it  runs  into  a  cul  de  sac  formed  by  a  crescent-shaped 
mountain  ....  and  reappears  a  mile  away  on  the  other  side  of  the 
mountain  in  the  form  of  a  large  spring."^  It  is  stated  that  boats  can  be 
taken  through  this  subterranean  passage.^  Sinking  Valley  is  formed  by 
solution;  the  "mountain"  is  the  initial  stage  of  a  huge  natural  bridge. 
A  number  of  these  arches  are  known  in  various  parts  of  the  Ozarks,  as  at 
Hahatonka  and  in  Miller  County.^  In  time  the  entire  roof  of  a 
cavernous  passage  may  collapse,  and  a  continuous  valley  may  be  formed. 

'  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  X,  92. 

*  Nason,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  91-92. 

3  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  194. 

*  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  I,  13. 


CHAPTER  III 

EROSION  CYCLES  AND  THEIR  TOPOGRAPHIC  RESULTS 

GRADE-LEVELS 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  things  about  Ozark,  topography  is 
that  on  the  upland  the  horizon  is  level  nearly  everywhere,  even  in 
the  roughest  hill  sections.  In  other  words,  uniform  summit-levels  are 
characteristic  of  almost  the  entire  highland  area  (Plate  V  b)  irrespective 
of  stratigraphic  conditions,  and  thereby  indicate  an  elevated  pene- 
plain. Corroborative  evidence  is  found  in  high-level  gravels.'  The 
region  has  been  subjected  to  subaerial  degradation  for  an  extremely 
long  period,  and  has  a  complicated  erosion  history,^  in  which  the  two 
elements  of  geographic  importance  are  (i)  the  general  upland  peneplain 
and  (2)  the  valleys  and  their  terraces.  A  peneplain  was  developed  over 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  Missouri  Ozarks,  the  two  important  exceptions 
being  the  larger  knobs  of  crystalline  rocks  (Plate  I  a)  and  those  of  the 
Burlington  limestone  in  southwest  Missouri.  In  both  cases  the  monad- 
nocks  are  formed  by  highly  resistant  rock.  In  the  eastern  region  some 
of  the  porphyry  knobs  rise  600  to  800  feet  above  the  old  peneplain.^  In 
southwest  Missouri  remoteness  from  streams  aided  in  the  preservation 
of  the  limestone  monadnocks. 

Subsequent  to  the  general  peneplanation  the  region  was  upwarped 
unevenly  and  constituted  a  plateau.  It  was  raised  most  along  the 
present  line  of  highest  elevation,  the  amount  of  uplift  decreasing  from 
this  axis  in  all  directions.^  Thus  a  flat,tened,  elliptical  dome  was  formed, 
with  its  main  watershed  approximately  where  the  principal  divide  now  is. 
One  of  the  first  stages  of  subsequent  uplift  had  its  maximum  develop- 
ment in  the  White  River  country,  which  was  raised  about  300  feet. 
On  the  middle  Osage  at  this  time  the  uplift  was  about  75  feet,^  and  still 
farther  north,  in  Morgan  County,  it  is  recognizable  only  on  careful 
examination.''     The  resulting  rejuv'enation  of  the  streams  caused  the 

'  Marbut,  Missouri  Bur.  Gcol.  and  Mines,  Scr.  2,  VTI,  10. 

^  Hershey,  in  Amcr.  Gcol.,  XXVII,  25-41,  gives  an  extended  analysis. 

^  See  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Gcol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  9,  and  accompany- 
ing map. 

*  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  p.  29.  s  Hershey,  Amer.  Geol.,  XXVII,  35. 

'  Marbut,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  VII,  8-9. 

31 


2  2  GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

incision  of  the  White  River  system  to  a  depth  of  several  hundred  feet 
and  the  development  of  wide  alluvial  floors  at  the  new  base-level.  Later 
uplift  again  rejuvenated  the  drainage  and  caused  the  grade-level  just 
referred  to  to  be  trenched  and  its  remnants  to  be  left  as  terraces  50  to 
75  feet  above  the  present  valley  floors  of  the  White  River  system. 

The  terraces  are  locally  called  "benches,"  and  furnish  the  most 
desired  lands  of  the  White  River  country  (Plate  Vila).  The  bench 
lands  are  underlain  by  rock  at  a  depth  of  one  to  ten  feet.  Their  soils 
are  characteristically  a  deep  red  and  contain  much  oxidized  gravel  and 
sand.  Terraces  are  well  distributed  along  all  the  larger  tributaries  of 
the  White,  and  form  a  favorite  location  not  only  for  farms  but  also  for 
the  community  centers  of  this  much-dissected  area.  Many  of  the  other 
Ozark  valleys  contain  less  conspicuous  benches,  especially  on  the  north- 
em  border.  Here  almost  every  valley  has  several  well-defined  terraces 
or  "second  bottoms,"  as  valley  lands  above  the  level  of  ordinary  floods 
are  designated  locally.  These  terraces  are  par  excelletice  the  small- 
grain  lands  of  the  valleys  and  are  also  suited  for  com  if  the  crops  are 
rotated  properly.  They  do  not,  however,  permit  continuous  cropping' 
in  corn,  as  do  the  flood  plains  or  "first  bottoms." 

PRESENT   STAGE   OF   DISSECTION 

Since  its  elevation  the  peneplain  has  been  redissected  so  thoroughly 
as  to  have  lost  its  plateau  character  to  a  large  degree.  The  western 
part  of  the  highland  forms  an  exception  to  this  statement.  The  differ- 
ence in  dissection  of  the  various  parts  of  the  area  is  a  function  of  (i)  differ- 
ence in  elevation  of  the  peneplained  surface  after  uplift,  (2)  difference 
in  resistance  of  the  rocks,  and  (3)  difference  in  position  relative  to  eroding 
streams. 

An  economic  interpretation  of  the  dissection  is  sho\\Ti  in  Fig.  28, 
which  represents  by  shaded  lines  the  land  too  rough  for  cultivation. 
As  shown  in  this  map  the  rough  land  lies  mostly  in  the  eastern  and  central 
portions,  forming  a  crescentic  belt  intermediate  between  the  borders 
and  the  central  region.  This  dissected  belt  is  the  result  of  (i)  elevation 
greater  than  that  of  the  margins  of  the  area,  (2)  outcrops  of  the  Gas- 
conade limestone,  and  (3)  a  very  close  drainage  pattern  in  certain  parts, 
as  where  the  Osage  and  Gasconade  rivers  approach  each  other,  with  two 
smaller  streams,  the  Maries  and  Tavern,  crowded  between  them.  In 
this  intermediate  area  erosion  has  nearly  destroyed  the  plateau,  the 
remnants  being  knifelike  ridges,  in  many  cases  having  room  scarcely  for 


EROSION  CYCLES  AND  TOPOGRAPHIC  RESULTS  23 

a  wagon  trace.  Here  the  land  suited  to  agriculture  is  confined  almost 
entirely  to  the  larger  valleys. 

In  the  northern  and  eastern  border  zones  lowlands  are  largest  and 
most  numerous  because  the  drainage  is  most  mature.  Because  in  some 
parts  erosion  is  well  past  the  stage  of  greatest  relief  and  also  because 
of  the  lesser  original  elevation,  the  contrast  between  uplands  and  valleys 
is  less  in  these  border  regions  than  in  other  parts  of  the  Ozarks.  The 
upland  here  is  for  the  most  part  rolling  and  is  largely  suited  to  agricul- 
ture. This  region  is  typically  a  foreland  to  the  higher  country  at  the 
south  and  west. 

The  west  central  region  has  been  affected  but  little  by  erosion. 
The  characteristic  landscape  is  a  monotonous  plain,  beneath  which  the 
larger  streams  have  cut  a  few  steep-sided  valleys  with  narrow  bottoms. 
East  of  the  Springfield  Plain  the  plateau  is  cut  into  large  strips  by  sub- 
parallel  valleys,  most  of  which  run  north  and  south.  These  plateau 
remnants  are  usually  designated  prairies  (Plate  VI  a).  Many  have  indi- 
vidual names,  and  each  forms  to  a  considerable  degree  a  social  and  eco- 
nomic unit.  The  western  border  of  the  Ozarks,  the  Springfield  Plain,  is 
so  remote  from  the  larger  streams  that  in  spite  of  its  high  elevation  it  has 
been  least  dissected  of  any  part  of  the  highland.  Here  prairie  conditions 
prevail. 

The  Ozark  Highland  therefore  shows  strong  contrasts  in  topography, 
because  of  which  it  is  divided  into  three  main  sections:  (i)  the  eastern 
and  northern  borders  of  moderate  relief,  (2)  the  intermediate,  rough 
hill  belts  on  the  north,  east,  and  south,  and  (3)  the  smooth  central  and 
western  plateaus  (Figs,  i  and  18). 

CHARACTERISTICS   OF   STREAMS   AND   THEIR   VALLEYS 

Ozark  streams  have  not  formed  symmetrical  drainage  basins.  The 
streams  which  are  consequent  to  the  original  slope  of  the  dome  have 
enlarged  their  courses  more  rapidly  than  those  which  flow  against  it. 
North  of  the  crest  the  northward  flowing  tributaries  are  much  more 
numerous  and  have  developed  longer  courses  and  larger  basins  than  the 
southward  flowing  ones.  South  of  the  crest  the  converse  is  true.  From 
the  one  side,  therefore,  the  descent  into  a  typical  Ozark  stream  basin  is 
gradual;   from  the  other,  abrupt. 

Most  of  the  large  streams,  and  many  of  the  small  ones,  have  sinuous 
courses.  The  Osage,  Gasconade,  Meramec,  and  White  rivers  and 
their  principal  tributaries  consist  of  extraordinarily  large  meanders 
incised    into    the    upland.     Fig.    5    illustrates   a   typical   case.     These 


24 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


meanders  are  inherited  from  a  peneplained  condition  of  the  region, 
when  sluggish  streams  wandered  widely  over  the  smooth  surface.  On 
rejuvenation  the  streams  cut  dowTi  their  channels,  in  many  instances 
200  feet  or  more.  During  incision  the  stream  channels  continued  to 
shift  laterally  at  the  same  time  that  they  were  being  sunk  vertically.^ 
As  a  result  the  meanders  have  grown  to  extraordinary  size,  the  valleys 
have  become  unusually  wide,  and  there  have  developed   the  gentle 


o 


J  riiuES 


Fig.  5. — Intrenched  course  of  the  Osage  River  above  Bagnell.  Three  meander 
loops  are  shown  with  slip-off  slopes  on  their  inner  sides  and  cliffs  on  the  opposite 
bank  {U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Versailles  Topographic  Sheet). 

"slip-off"  slopes  so  characteristic  of  the  inner  side  of  all  Ozark  meanders 
{D  in  Fig.  6).  These  slopes  provide  not  merely  access  from  valley  to 
upland,  but  are  invariably  the  sites  of  the  choicest  farms,  the  lower  slopes 
being  farmed,  the  upper  ones  utilized  as  grasslands  (Plate  VII).  Fig.  6 
represents  in  block  diagram  a  typical  meander.  At  A  the  river  cuts  into 
the  upland  very  sharply  and  develops  in  most  cases  a  sheer  bluff  on  the 
right  bank.     At  B,  on  the  outer  edge  of  the  meander,  the  current  is 

'  Hershey,  op.  cil.,  XVI,  347-49. 


EROSION  CYCLES  AXD  TOPOGRAPHIC  RESULTS 


25 


directed  against  the  left  bank  and  there  forms  a  blulT.  The  blufTs 
shown  in  Plate  VIII  are  at  the  apex  of  meanders.  At  C  there  may  or 
may  not  be  bluffs. 

Because  of  the  severity  of  the  attack  at  .4  (Fig.  6)  the  meander  may 
be  cut  off,  as  in  an  alluvial  valley.  The  likelihood  is  less  in  this  case 
because  the  stream  is  attacking  strata  of  hard  rock.  Also,  so  long  as 
the  downstream  component  of  the  current  is  much  more  vigorous  than 
the  lateral  motion,  there  may  be  no  undercutting  at  the  downstream 
side  of  the  neck.     Rather.  C  may  shift  downstream  as  rapidly  as  /I,  or 


Fig.  6. — Block  diagram  of  an  intrenched  meander.  The  stream  undercuts  the 
valley  sides  especially  at  .1  and  B,  and,  unless  its  gradient  is  high,  also  at  C.  Com- 
bined down-cutting  and  lateral  shifting  give  rise  to  gentle  slopes  on  the  inner  sides 
of  the  meander  loops  (especially  at  D,  but  also  at  E  and  F),  called  "slip-ofl"  slopes. 
On  these  the  best  farms  of  such  valleys  are  located. 

nearly  so.  Cut-offs  are  to  be  found,  therefore,  principally  in  the  border 
regions,  where  the  streams  are  less  rapid,  and  where  sapping  takes  place 
on  both  sides  of  the  neck.  This  is  the  case  on  the  lower  Osage,  Gasco- 
nade, Pomme  de  Terre,  Whitewater,  and  other  rivers.'  The  cut-off  at 
Richfountain,  in  Osage  County,  is  nearly  diagrammatic  (Fig.  12).  The 
length  of  the  abandoned  part  of  the  valley  is  almost  ten  miles,  and  forms 
one  of  the  best  farming  sections  in  the  country.  At  the  apex  of  the  old 
meander  was  an  oxbow  lake,  drained  a  few  years  since.     At  the  cut-off 

•  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,1,  3;  Marbut,  ibid.,  VII, 
12-13,  *i^d  Plate  VI. 


26  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGH  LA  XD  OF  MISSOURI 

the  stream  still  flows  in  a  narrow,  rocky  channel,  which  indicates  that 
the  shortening  of  the  stream  course  at  this  place  has  been  very  recent. 
A  local  name  for  the  detached  portion  of  the  upland,  remaining  after  the 
neck  is  cut  through,  is  ''lost  hill,"  because  to  the  inhabitant  of  the  Ozarks 
a  hill  is  part  of  a  continuous  ridge  and  an  isolated  hill  is  an  anomaly. 
These  "lost  hills"  may  be  formed  in  another  way:  "A  short  distance 
upstream  from  the  fork  of  two  streams  the  widening  of  their  graded 
valley  floors  occasionally  results  in  the  lateral  abstraction  of  the  smaller 
by  the  larger  one.  An  isolated  hill  is  then  left.  An  example  which  bids 
fair  to  become  typical  for  this  country  occurs  where  the  town  of  Warsaw 
lies  on  the  margin  of  one  of  these  hill  groups  in  the  (former)  fork  of  the 
Osage  and  Grand  River  valleys."'  Cote  sans  Dessein,  in  Callaway 
County,  is  another  example. 

A  secondary  topographic  result  of  the  meandering  habit  is  that  it 
increases  the  opportunity  for  dissection  of  the  adjoining  region  enor- 
mously. Instead  of  having  a  normal,  linear  valley  a  fraction  of  a  mile 
in  width,  such  a  stream  wanders  about  in  a  belt  many  times  as  wide, 
within  which  and  adjacent  to  which  tributaries  as  a  rule  dissect  the  up- 
land in  intricate  patterns.  These  river  hill  belts  are  serious  obstacles 
to  communication  in  any  direction. 

'  Davis,  Science,  VII,  273;  see  also  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Sure,  X,  and  Amer. 
Geol.,  XXI,  86-90. 


CHAPTER  IV 
CLIMATE 

The  climate  of  the  Ozark  Highland  is  determined  primarily  by  its 
mid-continental  location  in  intermediate  latitudes.  The  relief  is  not 
sufficient  to  affect  seriously  the  climate  of  the  region  as  a  whole,  and  it 
therefore  does  not  form  a  climatic  province.  The  areal  extent  of  the 
highland  results  in  a  noticeable  contrast  in  temperature  conditions 
between  its  northern  and  southern  extremities  and  a  slight  contrast  in 
rainfall  between  the  eastern  and  western  parts. 

WINDS   AND   STORMS 

The  winds  are  largely  cyclonic  and  the  weather  is  variable.  The 
region  is  too  far  south  to  have  its  temperatures  much  affected  ordinarily- 
by  the  strong  winter  anticyclones  of  the  north  central  states,  which 
have  their  origin  in  the  far  Northwest.  Lesser  cyclones  and  anticyclones, 
however,  moving  southeastward  from  the  Rocky  Mountain  region  cross 
the  Ozarks  frequently.^ 

The  wind  of  maximum  frequency  is  southerly  or  southeasterly.^ 
From  1912  to  1914  inclusive  there  were  only  three  months  in  which  the 
prevailing  winds  at  Springfield  were  not  from  the  south  or  southeast. 
In  the  same  period  the  prevailing  wind  at  Columbia,  just  beyond  the 
northern  border,  was  from  the  south,  southeast,  or  southwest  during 
twenty-eight  months.^  There  is  a  slight  increase  in  the  frequency  of 
northerly  winds  with  increase  of  latitude.  Storm  winds  are  prevailingh' 
from  the  northwest." 

Wind  velocities  are  lower  on  the  average  than  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  state.  At  Springfield  the  mean  velocity  is  10. i  miles  per  hour, 
being  highest  in  March  (12  .4)  and  lowest  in  August  (7  .4).^  From  191 2 
to  1914  there  were  twenty-two  months  in  which  the  maximum  velocity 
at  Springfield  did  not  exceed  25  miles.* 

'  Taylor,  summary  of  nineteen  years'  record,  Monthly  Wcallier  Revirw,  XXXV, 
265-67;    U.S.  Weallur  Bur.,  Bull.  W. 

'  Ihid. 

J  Summarized  from  Climatological  Data,  I-III. 

*  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

^'Monthly  Weatlier  Rev.,  XXXV,  267.  «  Climatological  Data,  I-III. 

27 


28  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Tornadoes  are  of  almost  annual  occurrence  in  the  region,  although 
the  likelihood  of  visitation  for  any  one  locality  is  very  slight.  Many  of 
these  storms  invade  the  area  from  Kansas,  and  the  western  border  is 
therefore  most  subject  to  them.  The  vicinity  of  Springfield  is  said  to 
have  been  visited  by  a  tornado  three  times  since  its  settlement,  in  1880, 
in  1883,  and  in  191 5.  The  first  destroyed  the  town  of  Mansfield  and 
resulted  in  the  death  of  at  least  a  hundred  persons.'  In  1909  there  were 
two  tornadoes  in  the  Ozarks.  On  April  29  one  killed  twenty  people  at 
Golden,  Barry  County,  several  persons  at  Viola,  Stone  County,  and  the 
city  of  Alton,  Oregon  County,  was  nearly  destroyed,  with  the  loss  of 
six  lives.^  Two  months  later  Monett  and  Aurora  were  swept  by  a 
tornado.^ 

TEMPERATURE   CONDITIONS 

The  average  annual  temperature  of  the  Ozark  Highland  is  a  littl,e 
less  than  55°  F.,  which  is  the  average  for  the  city  of  Springfield.  Fig.  7 
represents  the  average  January  isotherms.  This  is  the  coldest  month 
and  also  the  one  in  which  the  temperature  contrasts  between  different 
parts  of  the  region  are  greatest,  amounting  to  a  maximum  of  10°  between 
the  extreme  north  and  south.  In  April  there  is  only  3^°  difference 
between  north  and  south,  and  in  the  three  summer  months  none.  In 
September  the  maximum  difference  is  4^°,  and  in  November  8°.  The 
winters,  therefore,  are  somewhat  colder  and  longer  in  the  north  than  in 
the  south,  whereas  there  is  no  appreciable  difference  in  the  summers. 
Autumn,  and  to  a  lesser  extent  spring,  are  of  greatest  duration  in  the 
southern  sections." 

Fig.  8  shows  the  mean  monthly  changes  of  temperature  for  Spring- 
field, which  approximate  the  averages  for  the  region  as  a  whole.  During 
the  three  summer  months  the  mean  daily  maximum  exceeds  80°,  and  in 
none  of  the  winter  months  does  it  drop  below  40°.  In  the  three  winter 
months  the  mean  daily  minimum  temperatures  are  below  30°,  and  in 
January  and  February  below  25°.  If  these  average  conditions  were 
realized,  therefore,  in  any  one  year,  each  day  would  have  frost  at  night 
and  thawing  during  the  day.  Not  uncommonly  in  midwinter  this  con- 
dition does  exist  for  weeks  at  a  time.     Periods  of  more  than  three  or 

'  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

'  Monthly  Weather  Rev.,  XXXVII,  207. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  225. 

4  Summarized  from  averages  given  in  Climatological  Data,  March,  1914,  to  Febru- 
ary, 1915. 


CLIMATE 


29 


YiG,  7.— Januarj'  isotherms  (after  U.S.  Weather  Bureau,  Bull.  W,  and  Climato- 
logical  Data). 


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Fig.  8.— Temperature  record  for  Springfield  for  nineteen-year  period 


30 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


four  days  without  thawing  are  not  usual.  The  mean  daily  range  through- 
out the  year  is  18.2°,  in  winter  16.8°,  in  spring  19°,  in  summer  18.3°, 
and  in  au^mn  18.8°/ 

Available  frost  data  are  too  meager  to  warrant  any  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  frost-free  period  in  different  localities.  It  appears  that  in 
general  the  southeastern  region  is  first  to  be  free  from  frost  in  spring  and 
the  western  border  last.  In  the  fall  the  west  is  again  first  subject  to 
frost.    This  would  agree  with  the  increase  of  humidity  southeastward. 


Fig.  9. — Average  annual  precipitation  (after  U.S.  Weather  Bureau,  Bull.  W,  and 
Climatological  Data) . 


Poplar  Bluff,  on  the  east,  has  an  average  frost-free  season  of  193  days; 
Mount  Vernon,  on  the  west,  of  166.  The  average  length  of  the  growing 
season  for  the  region  as  a  whole  is  nearly  six  months.*  The  likelihood  of 
unseasonable  frosts  depends  much  more  largely  on  topographic  location 
than  on  latitude  or  longitude.  As  a  rule  frosts  occur  in  the  valleys  several 
weeks  later  in  spring  and  earlier  in  fall  than  they  do  on  the  uplands, 
especially  in  the  case  of  the  larger  valleys  lying  in  the  hill  regions.  The 
margins  of  the  uplands  have  the  best  air  drainage  and  are  least  subject 

^  Taylor,  op.  cit.  -  U.S.  Weather  Bur.,  Bull.  W. 


CLIMATE  31 

to  frosts.  This  factor  has  been  important  in  determining  the  location 
of  orchards  and  gardens.  On  the  plateau  remnants,  at  some  distance 
from  their  margins,  the  frost  danger  again  increases. 

The  temperature  conditions  described  are  averages,  and  extremes 
depart  therefrom  considerably.  The  highest  temperature  ever  recorded 
in  Missouri  was  116",  at  Marble  Hill  in  1901.  Springfield  has  recorded 
an" absolute  range  of  135°  (see  Fig.  9),  with  such  anomalous  temperatures 
as  74°  in  January  and  22°  in  October  and  April.  The  variability  of 
temperatures  is  greatest  in  winter.  The  cold  waves  may  be  so  severe 
as  to  level  all  climatic  distinctions  within  the  state,'  and  not  infrequently 
bring  temperatures  of  — 10°  to  —  20°.  They  are  less  numerous,  however, 
than  farther  north,  and  are  of  short  duration,  being  followed  usually 
by  thawing  weather  within  a  few  days.  Severe  winters  which  have  been 
remembered  in  local  history  are  those  of  1834-35  and  1855-56.  In  the 
former  ''cattle  had  their  horns  frozen,  pigs  and  fowls  perished  in  great 
numbers,  and  much  damage  was  done  to  fruit  trees.  The  snow  drifted 
to  extraordinary  depths,  lying  on  the  ground  from  December  to  March."* 
Protracted  hot  ''spells"  are  of  greater  duration  and  effect  much  greater 
injuries  because  they  are  usually  associated  with  droughts. 

HUMIDITY   AND   PRECIPITATION 

The  nineteen-year  average  (1888-1906)  of  relative  humidity  at 
Springfield  is  73,  77  during  the  winter  months,  75  in  summer,  and  70  in 
spring.  During  the  same  period  the  average  number  of  clear  days  per 
year  was  150,  partly  cloudy  127,  and  cloudy  88.  The  months  with  the 
greatest  number  of  clear  days  were  October,  18,  September  and  August, 
each  16;  those  with  the  most  cloudy  days  were  December  and  January, 
each  II.  May  has  an  average  of  12  rainy  days,  whereas  October  has 
only  7.''  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  Ozarks  the  humidity  is  slightly 
greater  than  at  Springfield.  On  the  whole  the  region  is  one  of  abundant 
sunshine,  especially  in  fall,  and  of  moderately  high  evaporation.  The 
maximum  frequency  of  rains  in  spring,  and  of  sunny  weather  in  late 
summer,  is  favorable  for  the  production  of  most  crops,  especially  corn 
(see  Fig.  10). 

Precipitation  is  largely  in  the  form  of  rain.  The  average  snowfall 
at  Springfield  is  only  15.9  inches,  or  about  3^  per  cent  of  the  total 
precipitation.     This  is  less  than  half  the  snowfall  at  Chicago  or  New 

'  Taylor,  op.  cit.  '  Ibid. 

i  Taylor,  Moitlldy  Wcalhcr  Rt-v.,  XXXV,  265-67;    U.S.  Wcalhr  Hur.,  Bull.  W. 


32 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


York.  In  January,  19 14,  Jefferson  City  and  Glasgow,  both  on  the 
northern  border,  had  no  snowfall.  In  January,  191 5,  widely  separated 
stations  in  Bollinger,  Shannon,  Iron,  and  Laclede  counties  reported  no 
snow.  On  the  other  hand,  in  February,  1914,  27  inches  of  snow  fell  ^ 
in  Phelps  County  and  31  in  Franklin.^  Even  on  the  northern  border 
snow  rarely  remains  on  the  ground  more  than  a  week,  and  in  the  south  a 
snow  cover  of  twenty-four  days  in  January  is  reported  as  an  extraordinary 


Jan 


fVi> 


na» 


flpl 


rOa^  Jun  Jut 

«  Av.  No.■R(vin^(  "bayt 
«  Av.  No.  Cloudy  Dcvys 


fiuj  St^f 


Oct 


Nov 


Fig.  10. — Record  of  precipitation  at  Springfield  for  nineteen-year  period,  1S88- 
1906.  Each  column  represents  maximum,  mean,  and  minimum  precipitation  for 
the  month. 

condition.^  The  latitude  position  of  the  region  favors  occasional  sleet 
storms.  In  April,  19 14,  one  such  storm  was  reported  from  the  Ozark 
region;  in  December  sleet  fell  seven  times,  and  in  the  following  month 
six  times.3    Not  infrequently  sleet  does  considerable  damage  to  trees 


'  Climatological  Data,  March,  1914,  to  February,  1915. 

*  MonMy  Weather  Rev.,  XL,  403. 

3  Climatological  Data,  March,  1914,  to  February,  1915. 


CLIMATE  33 

and  wires  and  makes  travel  almost  impossible  for  a  day  or  two.  In 
November,  1848,  the  southwestern  portion  witnessed  a  "big  sleet," 
which  was  extraordinarily  destructive.'  Hail  is  most  frequent  in  the 
western  part  of  the  area.  In  the  entire  region  the  Weather  Bureau 
reported  fourteen  hailstorms  from  May  to  September,  1914.^ 

The  annual  precipitation  ranges  from  a  minimum  average  of  36 
inches  along  the  Missouri  River  valley  to  a  maximum  of  48  on  the  margin 
of  the  Southwestern  Lowlands,  as  shown  in  Fig.  9.  Fig.  10  shows  the 
average  distribution  by  months  at  Springfield,  which  is  fairly  typical  of 
the  region.  The  rainfall  of  the  growing  season,  April  to  September, 
is  on  the  average  considerably  more  than  half  the  annual  precipitation. 
In  a  majority  of  localities  the  maximum  rainfall  is  in  May,  with  June 
in  second  place.  At  a  few  stations  June  has  slightly  more  rain  than  May. 
The  normal  distribution  therefore  is  very  favorable  to  the  growth  of 
crops,  the  May-June  maximum  and  the  high  rainfall  in  July  being  espe- 
cially desirable  for  com. 

Unfortunately,  the  amount  of  rainfall  in  any  one  year  may  depart 
widely  from  the  average.  In  Fig.  10  the  extreme  maximum  and  mini- 
mum monthly  rainfall  at  Springfield  from  1888  to  1906  is  shown.  The 
maximum  annual  rainfall  during  this  time  was  6i  inches,  the  minimuifi 
31 .7.  June  and  July,  the  most  critical  months  for  most  crops,  have  the 
greatest  variability  of  rainfall.  According  to  oral  accounts  the  greatest 
rain  that  ever  occurred  in  this  section  was  in  July,  1876.3  June  and 
August,  1 91 5,  broke  all  monthly  records  in  parts  of  the  Ozarks.  In 
August  of  this  year  there  were  seven  widely  scattered  stations  at  which 
the  rainfall  was  more  than  10  inches  above  the  monthly  average.  Rain 
fell  in  great  quantity  almost  every  day,  grain  rotted  in  the  fields, 
streams  were  in  flood  repeatedly  and  in  a  number  of  instances  reached 
stages  never  before  known,  and  the  wheat  crop  on  almost  all  bottom 
lands,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  the  corn,  was  lost. 

Periods  of  drought  have  done  more  damage  than  periods  of  excessive 
rain,  (i)  Most  droughts  are  of  greater  arcal  extent  than  heavy  or  pro- 
tracted rains.  (2)  They  affect  unfavorably  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
land  area,  as  they  involve  both  the  uplands  and  small  bottoms,  whereas 
in  this  region  damage  done  by  rains  is  limited  mostly  to  the  flooding 
of  valleys.  (3)  Droughts  do  permanent  injury  to  field  crops  during 
any  part  of  the  period  of  growth.     Rains,  on  the  other  hand,  do  direct 

■  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

'Climatological  Daia,  March,  1914,  to  February,  1915. 

^  Taylor,  op.  cit. 


34  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

damage  only  at  certain  seasons.  (4)  Most  droughts  are  of  much  longer 
duration  than  rainy  periods.  In  1881  no  rain  fell  from  the  middle  of 
July  to  September  10,  and  the  corn  crop  was  nearly  a  failure."^  The 
great  drought  of  1901  caused  nearly  a  total  failure  of  crops.  More 
recently  the  years  1911,  1913,  1914  were  very  deficient  in  rain.  The 
three  dry  years  and  one  very  wet  one  (191 5)  out  of  five  consecutive  years 
were  a  severe  ordeal  to  almost  all  rural  sections. 

In  191 1  it  was  reported  from  Springfield  that  ''the  period  of  60  days, 
from  May  i  to  June  30,  almost  without  rain,  breaks  all  records  in  this 
locahty  for  continued  dry  weather  at  this  season  of  the  year.  Hay, 
oats,  gardens,  berries,  and  pastures  are  failures  ....  live  stock  is  being 
fed  full  winter  rations,  water  is  lower  than  it  has  been  for  years,  and  the 
city  water  company  is  extending  its  mains  to  a  new  source  of  supply."^ 

The  drought  of  1913  commenced  in  April  and  lasted  through  August. 
In  that  period  the  deficiency  of  rainfall  at  Springfield  was  1 2  .  04  inches, 
at  Wheatland,  Hickory  County,  11.49,  ^f  Boonville  11.42,  at  Ironton 
8.37.3  During  this  time  there  was  accumulated  an  excess  temperature 
at  Springfield  of  450°.  As  a  result,  it  was  said,  "wells  have  failed  and 
springs  and  streams  never  before  known  to  go  dry  are  absolutely  devoid 
of  water.  The  danger  of  fire  has  become  a  serious  menace,  and  fire 
patrols  have  been  established.  Thousands  of  trees  have  died  and  many 
more  will  succimib.  The  leaves  in  many  localities  are  dried  and  withered. 
....  Grass  is  as  dry  as  in  midwinter.  Stock  is  entirely  on  dry  feed,  and 
there  is  no  prospect  for  any  fall  pasture."^  Wheat  and  oats  alone, 
because  they  mature  early,  yielded  fair  crops.  The  production  of  corn 
for  the  state  was  reduced  about  half,^  and  in  the  southern  portion  more 
than  half.     Apple  orchards  yielded  only  a  third  of  a  crop.^ 

Th^e  year  1914  began  with  deficient  precipitation  generally,  and  so 
continued  with-few  exceptions  through  July.  This  drought  was  more 
severe  in  the  eastern  than  in  the  western  sections.  Ironton  had  a 
deficiency  of  16.5  inches  in  the  first  seven  months,  Marble  Hill  of  15, 
Boonville  of  14 .  i,  and  Springfield  of  8 .  75. ^     The  severity  of  the  drought 

'  Taylor,  op.  cit. 

"■  Monthly  Weather  Rev.,  XXXIX,  896. 
3  Summarized  from  CUmatological  Data,  19 13. 

'•  Hazen,  Springfield,  Mo.,  Monthly  Weather  Rev.,  XLI,  1211;  see  also  ibid., 
pp.  1443-44- 

s  Department  of  Agriculture,  Farmers'  Bullelin  Ac.  570,  p.  24. 

(•Ibid.,  No.  563,  p.  13. 

'  Summarized  from  CUmatological  Data,  1914. 


CLIMATE  35 

was  mitigated  in  places  by  heavy  but  very  local  rains.  The  dry  weather 
also  ''broke''  a  month  earlier  than  in  the  previous  year.  Wheat  was 
better  than  average,  but  oats  and  corn  sulTered  badly.  Hay  was 
virtually  a  failure  and  the  pastures  were  as  brown  in  midsummer  as 
in  late  fall. 

These  are  exceptional  conditions.  The  area,  being  mid-continental, 
is  subject  to  large  variations  of  weather.  In  most  years,  however,  the 
rainfall  is  ample.  The  losses  from  droughts  are  less  than  in  the  states 
adjoining  Missouri  on  the  west  and  no  greater  than  in  many  other  parts 
of  the  Middle  West.  The  damage  from  excessively  wet  seasons  is  less 
than  in  the  Great  Lakes  region  and  the  more  southerly  states.  All 
things  considered,  the  Ozarks  have  a  very  desirable,  well-moderated 
climate  of  the  continental  type,  pleasant  and  healthful,  and  very  well 
suited  to  a  large  variety  of  crops. 


CHAPTER  V 

MATERIAL  RESOURCES 
SOILS' 

Residual  soils. — Most  of  the  soil  of  the  Ozarks  was  formed  by  the 
decay  of  the  local  rock  formations.  On  upland  flats  and  gentle  slopes 
the  surface  materials  are  mostly  derived  from  the  underlying  rock,  and 
contacts  of  rock  formations  commonly  are  marked  by  sharp  differences  in 
soils.  On  steep  slopes,  however,  the  more  resistant  beds  of  rock  domi- 
nate the  soils,  as  they  do  the  topography.  Because  of  their  resistance 
they  form  the  summit  elevations,  and  accordingly  their  weathered  prod- 
ucts mantle  in  large  part  the  lower  slopes,  which  are  occupied  by  weaker 
rocks.  This  fact,  added  to  their  extensive  distribution,  makes  the  soils 
derived  from  cherty  limestones  by  far  the  largest  group  of  the  region. 

Cherty  limestone  soils:  In  the  cherty  limestone  soils  residual  chert 
is  the  most  conspicuous  feature.  It  is  present  in  the  soil,  in  subsoil,  at 
the  surface,  or  in  all  of  these  positions.  In  nearly  all  of  the  soil  types  of 
this  group  are  small  areas  which  are  free  from  chert.  All  of  the  limestone 
soils  are  clays  or  clay  loams. 

Because  of  its  area  and  fertility  the  Springfield  soil  (see  Fig.  ii), 
largely  derived  frcfm  the  Burlington  limestone,  is  the  most  valuable  single 
upland  soil  type  of  the  Ozarks.  It  covers  most  of  the  western  border, 
whence  its  name  is  derived,  and  also  a  strip  in  Cape  Girardeau  and  Ste. 
Genevieve  counties.  Its  chert  content  varies  greatly  but  on  the  whole  is 
high.  In  places  there  is  a  surface  concentration  which  at  first  sight  makes 
the  land  appear  too  stony  for  cultivation.  In  the  vicinity  of  Springfield 
fences  are  built  of  cherts  that  have  been  taken  from  the  fields.  The 
chert,  however,  aids  the  soil  in  catching  and  storing  moisture,  and  so 
helps  to  make  it  drought-resistant.^  For  the  most  part  this  soil  is  in  the 
least-dissected  portions  of  the  Ozarks  and  therefore  has  good  depth.  It 
■contains  the  mineral  elements  necessary  for  plant  growth  in  proper  pro- 
portions and  ranks  high  in  fertility.  This  combination  of  good  quaUties 
•  expresses  itself  in  some  of  the  best  farms  of  the  Ozarks. 

'  Marbut  (Bureau  of  Soils,  191 1),  A  Soil  Reconnaissance  of  the  Ozark  Region,  con- 
tains an  extended  discussion  of  soils.  The  nomenclature  of  this  report  has  been 
followed  for  the  most  part. 

'  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  p.  99.  ♦ 

36 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES 


37 


On  the  northern  and  eastern  borders  of  the  Ozarks  the  Union  soil  is 
widely  distributed.  The  soil  is  formed  in  large  part  from  the  Jefferson 
City  cotton  rock  and  is  therefore  not  very  cherty.  Most  of  it  is  found  in 
a  region  of  httle  relief,  largely  rolling  prairie.  In  considerable  part  "  the 
thickness  of  the  soil  layer  goes  beyond  the  point  where  it  is  a  limiting 
factor  in  crop  production."'  Because  of  its  compact  texture  the  soil 
washes  rather  badly  under  improper  cultivation.     It  is  not  a  first-class 


rl.-J 


Fig.  II. — Soil  map  (after  Marbut,  Bureau  of  Sails,  Field  Report,  191 1,  and 
Forty-sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Missouri  State  Board  of  Agric). 


soil  anywhere,  but  in  very  few  places  is  poor.  In  some  sections,  as 
between  the  Meramec  River  and  Boeuf  Creek,  it  is  fairly  good.  The 
major  part  of  it  is  cultivated  and  supports  its  industrious  owners  in 
moderate  comfort. 

An  excellent  soil  of  small  areal  distribution^  is  that  of  the  Iberia 
"benches."  It  is  limited  for  the  most  part  to  the  valleys  of  the  Gasco- 
nade, its  tributaries,  and  Tavern  Creek,  and  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from 

'  Ibid.,  p.  ss- 

'  The  areal  extent  is  less  than  is  shown  on  the  map  of  report  {he.  cit.). 


38  GEOGR.APHV  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF   MISSOURI 

soft  limestones,  which,  by  weathering,  form  benches.'  The  benches  on 
which  it  Hes  are  usually  not  more  than  a  mile  wide,  although  Marbut 
reports  maximum  widths  of  eight  to  ten  miles.  The  soil  is  mostly  clay 
containing  more  or  less  chert,  and  is  highly  esteemed.  The  name  is 
derived  from  the  prosperous  village  of  Iberia,  which  flourished  upon 
such  land,  although  miles  removed  from  a  railroad.  Its  fertility  has 
given  the  name  Richwoods  to  a  township  in  Miller  County,  which  was 
described  before  the  Civil  War  as  having  land  "of  excellent  quality,  and 
the  growth  of  timber  much  larger  than  in  much  of  the  surrounding 
country."^ 

The  Howell  soil,  derived  largely  from  the  Jefferson  City  formation,  is 
the  most  extensive  single  soil  type  of  the  Ozarks.  Marbut  characterizes 
it  as  having  less  chert  than  the  Springfield  soil  and  a  rougher  topography.^ 
Plate  IX  shows  some  of  the  stonier  phases.  The  cherts  are  largely  on 
the  surface  and  in  the  upper  part  of  the  soil.  In  some  sections,  as  in 
Howell  County,  they  disintegrate  into  small  fragments,  making  the  soil 
gravelly  rather  than  stony. ■'  On  the  whole  the  soil  is  more  cherty  than 
average  and  less  productive.  It  is  thin  in  general  and  not  suited  to 
heavy  cropping.  The  southern  counties  contain  some  fairly  good  farm- 
land. Areas  of  Howell  soil  have  been  advertised  heavily  as  fruit  soil,  and 
a  number  of  large  commercial  orchards  have  been  located  on  it  in  Howell 
and  Oregon  counties.  Probably  the  major  part  of  it  has  never  been 
put  under  Cultivation. 

Second  in  area  and  least  in  value  is  the  Clarksville  soil,  which  consti- 
tutes the  climax  of  poverty  in  the  Missouri  Ozarks.  On  the  whole  it 
contains  probably  as  much  chert  as  any  other  type  of  soil,  is  of  lesser 
depth,  and  lies  on  steeper  slopes.  This  soil  is  derived  from  the  Gasco- 
nade and  Potosi  limestones  for  the  most  part,  and  its  deficiencies  are  due 
principally  to  the  topography  of  its  parent  formations.  In  no  part  of 
the  area  occupied  by  it  is  any  large  fraction  of  the  surface  suited  to 
cultivation.  That  its  poverty  is  a  matter  of  topography  is  indicated 
clearly  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  choicest  bottom  lands  of  the  Ozarks 
are  formed  by  material  washed  down  from  hills  covered  with  Clarksville 
soil.  The  aggregate  value  of  its  area  is  less  than  that  of  the  adjoining 
Fredericktown  soils,  one-tenth  as  extensive. 

Non-cherty  limestone  soils:  Three  types  of  Ozark  limestone  soils 
are  nearly  chert-free.     These  are  the  Fredericktown,  Hagerstown,  and 

'  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  pp.  62-64.  ^  Marbut,  op.  cit.,  p.  68. 

^Reports  Geol.  Surv.  of  Missouri  (1855-71),  p.  128.        ^  Ibid.,  p.  71. 


MATERIAL  KESOi'KCES  39 

Berryville.  The  first  of  these  is  derived  from  the  Bonne  Terre  limestone 
and  other  formations  lying  in  proximity  to  the  igneous  rocks.  The 
basins,  which  it  forms  among  the  knobs  of  igneous  rocks  and  the  hills 
covered  by  the  Clarksville  soil,  are  garden  spots,  cultivated  from  the 
earliest  days  of  settlement  in  the  Ozarks  and  liberally  productive  to  this 
day.  The  deep  red  clays  of  this  series  are  classed  among  the  most 
fertile  limestone  soils  of  the  United  States  (Plates  lb  and  II  c).' 

The  Hagerstovvn  soil  occupies  a  compact  area  in  the  Mississippi 
border  region,  including  the  major  part  of  the  uplands  of  Perry,  Cape 
Girardeau,  and  Bollinger  counties.  This  region  has  little  relief,  and  con- 
sequently the  soils  have  a  satisfactory  depth.  The  fertility  is  consider- 
ably above  the  average,  and  for  the  most  part  the  land  has  been  long  in 
cultivation,  chiefly  for  the  production  of  small  grains.  Its  farmers 
enjoy  a  very  fair  degree  of  prosperity.  With  a  readjustment  of  farm 
practice  they  might  be  highly  prosperous. 

In  sharp  contrast  to  the  two  foregoing  types  is  the  Berryville  soil, 
forming  the  "glade  lands"  of  the  White  River  basin.  It  is  derived  largely 
from  the  cotton  rock  of  the  Jefferson  City  limestone.  It  is  for  the  most 
part  a  thin  veneer  upon  rock.  Where  the  slope  has  allowed  the  accumu- 
lation of  soil  to  a  sufficient  depth  it  is  reasonably  productive.  Because 
of  the  mature  dissection  of  the  area,  however,  such  localities  are  few. 
Where  cultivated  on  slopes  it  washes  badly,  as  it  lacks  the  chert  frag- 
ments to  hold  it  and  to  give  good  underdrainage.  Chiefly  because  of  its 
ease  of  erosion  abandoned  farms  are  most  common  where  this  soil  is 
found  (Plate  \T  b). 

Sandstone  soils:  There  are  three  principal  areas  of  sandy  soils: 
(i)  the  Tilsit,  derived  from  the  St.  Peter  sandstone,  along  the  eastern 
border,  (2)  the  Dent,  derived  from  the  La  Motte  sandstone,  adjacent 
to  the  igneous  core,  and  (3)  the  large  area  of  Dent  soils,  from  the  Roubi- 
dou.x  sandstone,  in  Dent  County  and  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Gasconade. 
All  are  very  sandy  and  for  the  most  part  very  poor.  They  provide  little 
sustenance  to  plants  and  retain  water  poorly.  The  sand  is  so  loose  that 
it  washes  badly,  and  hence  even  many  moderate  slopes  cannot  be  culti- 
vated. Marginal  to  these  areas  there  is  considcral)lc  land  in  a  good  state 
of  cultivation,  since  here  the  sand  has  been  mixed  with  the  residuum  of 
other  formations.  In  spite  of  a  relatively  smooth  surface  only  a  small 
part  cf  the  Dent  soils  is  farmed.  Because  of  its  more  accessible  location 
a  larger  proportion  of  the  Tilsit  area  is  improved. 

■  Marbut,  op.  cit.,  p.  44. 


40         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Igneous  rock  soils  :^  Agriculturally  the  soils  derived  from  the  igneous 
rocks  are  almost  negligible.  They  lie  on  steep  slopes  and  are  thin,  mixed 
with  fragments  of  talus,  and  of  such  an  impervious  nature  that  almost 
any  disturbance  of  the  surface  leads  quickly  to  serious  soil  erosion.  At 
the  base  of  most  knobs  igneous  rock  talus  has  slumped  down  upon  the 
soils  of  adjacent  formations,  and  thus  extended  the  area  of  undesirable 
stony  land  well  beyond  the  outcrops  of  granite  and  "porphyry." 

Transported  soils. — 

Loess:  Loess  is  knowoi  locally  as  "bluff  soil,"  because  it  caps  the 
bluffs  of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers.  At  the  riverward  margin 
of  the  upland  it  is  lo  to  25  feet  thick.  Away  from  the  river  it  thins 
rapidly,  and  at  a  distance  exceeding  three  or  four  miles  it  is  not  recogniz- 
able ordinarily,  except  on  the  northwestern  margin  of  the  area.  The 
soil  is  prized  because  of  its  lasting  fertihty  and  its  resistance  to  drought 
and  because  it  can  be  cultivated  on  steeper  slopes  than  is  possible  with 
any  other  soil  of  the  region  (Plate  X  a).  Because  most  of  this  soil  lies 
on  an  uneven  surface  it  requires  care  and  much  labor  in  cultivation,  but 
where  these  are  bestowed  it  yields  almost  as  large  returns  as  do  the 
alluvial  lands.  The  passage  from  the  loess  to  other  upland  soils  is 
marked  by  the  appearance  of  chert  on  the  roadsides,  of  gulhes  in  fields 
and  pastures,  of  timber  on  the  slopes,  and,  generally,  by  less  prosperous 
farm  conditions.  On  the  lower  Osage  and  Gasconade  rivers  and  on  some 
of  the  smaller  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Mis- 
souri River  loess  belt,  the  valley  slopes  show  e\'idence  of  an  obscure  loess 
cover,  which  enables  their  use  for  pastures  and  to  some  extent  for  culti- 
vation. 

Alluvial  soils:  Considering  the  rehef  of  the  region  and  the  stage  of 
dissection,  the  amount  of  alluvial  land  is  great.  Bottom  lands  are  weU 
distributed  throughout  the  Ozarks,  even  the  most  rugged  hill  districts 
of  the  Gasconade  limestone  containing  numerous  spacious  valleys.  Some 
of  the  most  valued  alluvial  land  is  on  the  lower  courses  of  creeks  flowing 
into  the  larger  rivers.  This  land  is  in  less  danger  of  destruction  by  the 
lateral  erosion  of  streams  than  are  the  river-bottom  farms.  It  is,  as  a 
rule,  very  rich,  heavy  alluvium.  When  the  larger  rivers  are  in  flood 
these  tributaries  are  ponded,  often  for  a  distance  of  several  miles.  The 
streams  are  shortened,  the  zone  of  deposition  is  shifted  upstream,  and 

'These  are  the  soils  called  by  Marbut  "rough,  stony  land."  As  the  term  is 
equally  applicable  to  thousands  of  square  miles  of  surface  in  the  Ozarks  not  underlain 
by  igneous  rocks,  and  as  it  is  dissimilar  in  concept  to  the  other  soU  names,  it  is  not 
employed  in  this  treatise. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  4 1 

the  backwater  forms  a  muddy  lake  in  which  most  of  the  fine  material 
carried  down  by  the  creek  is  deposited.  The  result  is  the  accumulation 
of  deeper  deposits  than  the  creeks  would  form  unaided.  The  numerous 
terraces  (see  p.  22)  also  constitute  an  important  part  of  the  valley  farm- 
lands. 

The  valleys  on  the  southeastern  flank,  as  the  Whitewater,  Castor, 
St.  Francois,  and  Black,  are  most  subject  to  inundation,  and  here,  well 
within  the  Ozarks,  are  swampy  tracts.  After  leaving  the  Ozarks  the 
streams  from  this  section  flow  with  sluggish  currents  for  many  miles 
through  the  lowlands  of  the  Mississippi  Embayment,  their  channels 
obstructed  in  numerous  places,  actually  obhterated  here  and  there,  by 
rafts  of  driftwood.  As  a  result  flood  waters  are  discharged  more  slowly 
than  in  the  remainder  of  the  region,  and  the  valley  lands  are  hence  some- 
what less  desirable.  Drainage  operations  now  in  progress  in  the  lowlands 
ma\-  have  some  effect  on  these  Ozark  valleys. 

The  character  of  the  country  rock  affects  the  nature  of  the  alluvial 
deposits  only  to  a  small  degree.  In  the  area  of  sandstone  outcrops  the 
bottoms  are  somewhat  sandy,  but  in  all  the  limestone  areas  the  alluvial 
soils  are  approximately  of  the  same  quality  under  similar  conditions 
of  deposition.  On  the  headwaters  rather  thin,  gravelly  deposits,  which 
rest  upon  cherty  subsoils,  are  the  rule,  and  here  crops  are  likely  to  "  bum 
out"  in  seasons  of  deficient  rainfall.  The  great  majority  of  the  bottom 
land,  however,  is  deep,  rich  in  humus,  well  drained,  and  produces  excel- 
lent crops  (Plate  X). 

Ridge-top  and  prairie  soils  of  uncertain  origin. — The  undissected  up- 
lands are  surfaced  by  the  Lebanon  and  Owensville  loams,  the  latter 
being  confined  to  the  northern  border.  The  Lebanon  soils  are  heavy 
clays,  commonly  deficient  in  organic  matter.'  They  are  most  productive 
in  the  western  part  of  the  region.  The  Owensville  silt  loam  is  of  much 
better  quality  and  forms  a  desirable  small-grain  soil.  It  is  similar  to 
the  prairie  soils  of  north  Missouri  and  is  possibly,  like  the  prairie  soils, 
in  part  of  glacial  or  loessial  origin.' 

Influence  of  slope  and  exposure. — In  general  the  most  desirable  soil 
types  are  those  which  are  associated  with  gentle  slopes,  the  undesirable 
ones  those  found  for  the  most  part  in  regions  of  greatest  relief.  The 
physical  and  chemical  characteristics  of  soils  are  much  less  significant 
thun  the  slope  of  the  surface  on  which  they  lie.  The  dissected  margins  of 
areas  of  Springfield  soils,  in  general  the  most  desirable  residual  type  of  the 
region,  are  in  places  as  unproductive  as  is  the  poorest  Clarksville  land, 

'  Marbut,  op.  cU.,  pp.  66-67.  '  Ibid.,  pp.  67-68. 


42 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


the  least  used  soil  of  the  region.     The  two  t}-pes  are  in  general  strongly 
contrasted,  because  most  of  the  Springfield  soil  is  on  level  p;-airies,  the 

Clarksville  almost  entirely  on 
rough  hillsides.  Low-lying  solu- 
tion basins  in  tracts  of  Howell 
soil,  generally  second  class,  fur- 
nish farming  areas  as  choice  as 
can  be  found  in  the  Ozarks. 
The  most  important  thing  about 
the  residual  soils,  therefore,  is 
their  depth,  which  in  turn  is 
dependent  on  the  topographic 
expression  of  the  rock  forma- 
tion from  which  they  are  derived 
and  the  position  of  the  area  \\dth 
reference  to  drainage  lines. 

The  direction  of  slope  also  has 
an  influence  on  the  accumulation 


Fig.  12a. — Assessed  value  of  land  per 
acre  in  Osage  County  (taken  from  assessor's 
land  book,  19 14). 


of  soil.  North-facing  slopes  are  conspicuously  less  stony  than  south- 
facing  ones  (Plate  XI  a).  The  soil  .also  has  greater  depth,  contains 
more  humus,  and  the  angle  of  slope  is  in  some  instances  less  steep.  More 
shade  and  less  heat  make  the 


soil  less  dry.  The  water  table 
is  also  nearer  the  surface.  For 
these  reasons  there  is  more 
vegetation  on  northern  than 
on  southern  slopes  and  soil  ac- 
cumulates more  rapidly  and  to 
greater  depth.  These  condi- 
tions are  not  pecuUar  to  this 
region  but  are  made  more  evi- 
dent by  the  presence  of  chert. 
The  cherts,  however,  may  have 
aided  in  establishing  this  con- 
trast. The  southern  slopes  are 
more  subject  to  alternate  thaw- 
ing and  freezing  than  the  north- 
ern ones.  The  conductivity  and  low  specific  heat  of  the  cherts  aid 
temperature  changes  in  the  soil,  and  so  facilitate  soil  creep  on  southern 
slopes  when  the  changes  cross  the  32°  point.  The  cherts,  being  less 
mobile  than  the  soil,  remain  behind  in  large  part. 


Fig.   12J. — Soil  map  of  Osage  County 
(after  Marbut,  Bureau  of  Soils,  1911). 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES 


43 


The  type  of  soil,  the  utilization  of  which  is  least  dependent  upon 
slope,  is  loess;  those  most  dependent  are  derived  from  sandstones, 
igneous  rocks,  and  non-cherty  limestones.  Except  in  small  areas  of 
these  last  groups,  erosion  has  not  been  a  serious  problem  in  the  Ozarks. 
The  region  is  not  densely  populated,  and  land  likely  to  wash  is  allowed 
as  a  rule  to  remain  in  timber  or  wild  pasture. 

Land  values. — Land  values  in  the  Ozarks  are  an  expression  chieflv 
of  slope,  kind  of  soil,  and  transportation  conditions;  secondarilv  of 
mineral,  water,  and  timber  resources.     The  sketch  maps  (Figs.   12a, 


Fig.  13a. — Assessed  value  of  land  per 
acre  in  Pulaski  County  (taken  from  as- 
sessor's land  book,  1914). 


Fig.  136. — Soil  map  of  Pulaski  County 
(after  Marbut,  Bureau  of  Soils,  1911). 
Legend  same  as  for  Fig.  1 26.  Iberia  soils 
shown  in  white. 


i^a,  14a)  show  for  selected  parts  of  the  Ozarks  the  average  assessed 
acre  values  by  square-mile  units.  For  comparison,  soil  maps  (Figs.  126, 
136,  14b)  are  added. 

Assessed  values  in  the  three  counties  selected  are  fairly  comparable. 
The- poorer  lands  are  assessed  at  nearly  their  actual  values  (in  part 
because  they  are  timbered),  while  the  more  fertile  lands  usually  sell  at 
three  to  five  times  their  assessed  values.  The  rate  of  assessment  is 
somewhat  higher  in  Iron  than  in  the  other  counties.  Average  values 
are  highest  in  Osage  County,  on  the  northern  border.     This  county  is 


44 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


better  located  with  regard  to  lines  of  transportation,  and  has  less  relief  and 
more  fertile  land  than  the  other  two.  Its  highest  priced  lands  are  along 
the  Missouri,  the  Gasconade,  and  the  Maries  rivers.  Here  broad  bot- 
toms, loess-covered  uplands,  and  rail  and  water  transportation  combine 
to  make  the  price  of  land  high.  Excepting  the  loess  lands,  the  t>^e  of 
soil  is  not  so  significant  in  determining  the  value  of  land  on  the  upland 
as  is  the  slope  of  the  surface.  Parts  of  the  Union  soil  are  worth  as  much 
as  fifty  dollars  an  acre,  as  on  the  level  uplands  near  Linn.     Near  the 


IRON 
COUNTY 


I 1  Not  more        I \i.t_L\    f.^00 

Ijiaoi -$15.00 


Fig.  14a. — Assessed  value  of  land  per  acre  in 
Iron  County  (taken  from  assessor's  land  book, 
1914). 


rivers,  however,  where  dissection  has  been 
extensive,  this  soil  forms  some  of  the  cheap- 
est land  of  the  county,  worth  five  dollars  an 
acre  and  less.  In  Pulaski  County,  situated 
in  the  interior  of  the  Ozarks,  land  values 
have  little  relation  to  soil  types,  with  the 
exception  of  the  alluvial  lands,  which  have 
satisfactory  depth  because  of  their  position. 
These  latter  comprise  the  most  valuable 
farms  of  the  county.  Prices  on  the  upland 
are  determined  almost  entirely  by  the 
extent  of  dissection,  and  here  the  distinction  of  soil  t\'pes  for  practical 
purposes  is  almost  a  matter  of  indifference.  WTiere  there  is  smooth 
prairie,  as  along  the  Frisco  Railroad,  land  may  bring  fifty  dollars  for 
farming  purposes.  The  streams  are  bordered  by  wide  hill  belts  con- 
taining very  little  land  that  is  suited  to  farming.  Here  values  range 
from  two  to  ten  dollars  per  acre.  Iron  County,  in  the  St.  Francois 
Region,  shows  the  closest  accordance  between  soil  type  and  land  values. 
Here  there  is,  however,  as  well  a  very  close  accordance  between  soil  type 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES 


45 


and  slope.  Most  of  the  crystalline  rocks  and  Clarksville  soils  are  worth 
about  two  dollars  per  acre.  In  sharp  contrast  to  them  are  the  alluvial 
and  the  Frederickto\\Ti  soils,  which  sell  ordinarily  for  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars  per  acre.  The  Belleview  basin  of  the  Fredericktown  soils 
forms  the  largest  compact  area  of  valuable  farmland  in  the  country. 

A  general  conclusion  that  may  be  made  concerning  land  values  is 
that  there  is  a  preponderance  of  cheap,  poor  land  in  all  parts  of  the 
region,  except  on  the  western  border.     Much  of  this  inferior  land  is  in  the 


'  o  o  -^  '=^%'^^  "^o  o  -^ Vo  i^  '^ 


•0 

a  « 


^^a 


I 


^»& 


]C/«r/YJv<7/<? 

\S\RI|u^fi 

Fig.  }^b. — Soil  map  of  Iron  County  (Marbut, 
Bureau  oj  Soils,  ign) . 

vicinity  of  the  larger   streams.     Bottom 

lands  show  surprisingly  small  variations  in 

price.     A   few    hundred    acres    of    public 

land  remain  unsold,  and  numerous  hill  tracts 

are  sold  from  time  to  time  at  sheriff's  sales 

for  a  few  cents  per  acre.     There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  also  thousands  of 

acres  in  the  bottoms  and  on  the  western  border  that  bring  prices  on  a 

par  with  those  of  the  best  lands  of  the  glaqial  prairies  of  north  Missouri. 

MINERALS 

Lead  and  zinc  ores;  barytc;  copper. — Galena,  zinc  blende,  and  baryte 
are  commonly  associated,  but  rarely  all  three  in  one  locality.     Galena  is 


46  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND   OF  MISSOURI 

most  widespread  in  its  distribution.  It  has  been  found  in  all  parts  of 
the  Ozarks,  and  has  been  worked  to  some  extent  in  almost  every  county. 
The  richest  deposits  center  about  St.  Francois  County  in  southeast 
Missouri  and  about  Jasper  County  in  the  southwestern  part.  In  the 
former  lead  is  and  has  been  by  far  the  most  important  mineral  product; 
this  district  also  produces  most  of  the  baryte  of  the  state.  In  the  latter 
region  zinc  is  first  in  importance,  but  large  quantities  of  lead  have  been 
mined  as  well.  The  zinc  ore  becomes  relatively  more  important  as  one 
goes  away  from  the  central  crystalline  area.  This  geographic  distribu- 
tion of  the  zinc  about  the  margins  of  the  Ozark  Highland  has  been  placed 
in  genetic  relation  to  the  movement  of  artesian  waters  outward  to  the 
margins  of  the  domed  area.^ 

The  ores  are  found  either  as  residual  material  or  "float"  ore,  in  the 
mantle  rock,  or  in  various  sedimentary  formations,  usually  in  limestone. 
Most  of  the  early  "mines"  did  not  penetrate  into  bedrock,  but  were  shal- 
low pits  in  which  the  galena  was  picked  out  from  the  other  materials 
of  the  mantle  rock.  Baryte  has  been  produced  almost  solely  from 
residual  material.^  Mining  in  the  bedrock  has  been  principally  from  ore 
bodies  of  the  following  description:  (i)  sheet  deposits  of  blende  and 
galena,  formed  along  bedding,  joint,  and  fault  planes,^  (2)  great  masses 
of  limestone,  impregnated  with  disseminated  ore,""  (3)  deposits  of  small 
areal  extent  but  of  great  thickness  found  chiefly  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  Ozarks.  They  are  there  called  "circles"  and  are  thought  to  be 
filled  sink  holes.  These  are  similar  in  heaviness  of  yield  to  some  of  the. 
"breccia  deposits"  of  the  southwest,  which  consist  of  ore  mixed  with 
residual  chert,  filling  solution  channels.^  The  first  class  is  one  of  the 
common  types  of  the  Joplin  district.  The  second  type  of  deposit,  char- 
acteristic of  the  St.  Francois  area,  enables  mining  operations  on  the 
largest  scale.  The  third  class  are  bonanzas  while  they  last,  but  most  of 
them  are  exhausted  after  a  short  period. 

Copper  deposits  are  known  principally  in  Shannon  County.  Others 
are  in  Franklin,  Madison,  and  Ste.  Genevieve  counties.  All  of  them 
are  near  crystalline  rock  areas.  The  deposits  are  not  large,  but 
the  character  of  the  ores  and  the  low  cost  of  flux,  fuel,  and  labor 
have  made  it  possible  to  work  them  with  profit  at  various  times.^    The 

'  Siebenthal,  U.S.  Geol.  Smv.,  Bull.  606. 
»       *  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  Plate  CXX. 
3  Ibid.,  Plate  LXVI. 

^  Winslow,  Missouri  Geol.  Siirv.,  VII,  442.  s  Ihid.,  pp.  461-65. 

^  Bain  and  Ulrich,  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Bull.  267,  pp.  9-1 1,  50. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  47 

galena  of  the  vicinity  of  the  crystalline  rock  areas  yields  also  copper, 
silver,  and,  more  rarely,  cobalt,  on  refining. 

Iron  ore. — Iron  ore  has  been  reported  in  almost  every  county  in  the 
Ozarks,  most  abundantly  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  region.  The  ore 
bodies  form  three  principal  groups:  (i)  the  specular  ores  in  "porphyry" 
in  the  St.  Francois  region,  (2)  the  hematites  of  the  filled  sinks  in  the 
central  Ozarks,  and  (3)  the  brown  ores  of  southeastern  Missouri.'  Of 
these  the  first  have  been  most  important.  Iron  Mountain,  Pilot  Knob, 
Shepard  Mountain,  Cedar  Hill,  and  other  porphyry  knobs  contain  large 
bodies  of  hard  ore  in  three  forms:  (i)  ore  bodies  in  the  igneous  mass, 
(2)  conglomerate,  and  (3)  weathered-out  bowlders.  The  ore  yields  from 
55  to  67  per  cent  of  iron.*  The  hematites  of  the  filled  sinks  are  mostlv  in 
Phelps,  Crawford,  and  Dent  counties.  They  are  in  cone-  or  bowl-shaped 
pockets,  which  can  often  be  worked  by  stripping.  The  Cherry  Valley 
mines  in  Crawford  County  are  among  the  largest  known  bodies  of  this 
type  and  give  promise  of  yielding  i  ,000,000  tons  of  ore.^  Brown  ores 
are  scattered  widely  through  the  southern  part  of  the  state.  Because 
of  their  low  grade  they  have  attracted  attention  only  recently.''  The 
deposits  are  numerous  but  small,  few  of  them  exceeding  100,000  tons.s 

Stone. — Stone  of  satisfactory  quality  and  suited  for  many  purposes 
can  be  had  in  most  sections.  Its  exploitation,  however,  has  been 
limited  to  a  very  few  places,  principally  because  of  lack  of  transpor- 
tation facilities  and  markets.  A  number  of  limestone  formations  yield 
superior  quarry  products,  especially  the  Burlington,  Jefferson  City  (cotton 
rock),  and  some  of  the  Silurian.  Because  these  rocks  outcrop  principally 
on  the  borders  of  the  region,  where  there  are  also  the  best  means  of 
transportation,  commercial  quarries  are  chiefly  in  the  Ozark  margin. 

The  granite  of  the  St.  Francois  knobs  forms  the  most  beautiful 
as  well  as  the  most  durable  stone  of  the  state.  It  has  a  pleasing  red  or 
gray  color,  a  medium  coarse  texture,  takes  and  retains  a  high  polish, 
and  is  jointed  so  as  to  facilitate  working.  It  can  be  produced  in  blocks 
of  almost  any  size,  the  Thomas  Allen  monument  at  Pittsficld,  Massa- 
chusetts, containing  a  single  block  of  42  tons.*"  The  porphyry  on  the 
other  hand  is  fractured  into  small  pieces,  is  difficult  to  work,  and  in 
pavings  wears  to  a  smooth  and  treacherous  surface.' 

'  Crane,  Missouri  Bur.  Gcol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  X,  xv. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  114.  J  Ibid.,  p.  92.  *Ibid.,  p.  xv.  s  Ibid.,  p.  57. 

*  Buckley  and  Buehler,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines.,  Ser.  2,  II,  74. 

T  Ibid.,  p.  64. 


48         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

The  St.  Peter  sandstone  furnishes  glass  sand  of  high  grade.  Pro- 
duction has  been  concentrated  upon  the  Jefferson  County  outcrops, 
situated  on  the  Mississippi  River  near  St.  Louis. 

Clay.^- — The  commercial  clays  are  classed  mostly  as  fire  clays  and 
kaolins.  They  are  on  the  whole  highly  refractory,  lean,  nearly  free 
from  grit,  and  a  majority  of  them  are  v/hite  or  cream-colored.  jMixed 
with  plastic  clays  the  kaolin  is  excellent  pottery  material,  which  sells 
normally  at  the  potteries  at  five  to  twelve  dollars  per  ton.  It  will  there- 
fore bear  the  cost  of  mining  by  crude  methods  at  some  distance  from  a 
railroad.  The  so-called  fire  clays  are  less  pure,  more  widely  distributed 
than  the  kaolins,  and  bring  a  lower  price.  Most  of  the  deposits  have 
accumulated  in  ancient  sink  holes.  They  are  in  pockets  rarely  more 
than  several  hundred  feet  in  diameter,  but  in  many  places  sixty  or  more 
feet  thick.  Exceptionally  large  pits  produce  five  thousand  tons.  In 
many  sections  their  small  size  is  balanced  to  some  extent  by  the  great 
number  of  clay  "banks." 

Because  of  the  chert  content  of  most  of  the  surface  clays  brick 
clays  are  of  rather  limited  distribution. 

Tripoli. — Tripoli,  a  porous,  decomposed  siliceous  rock,  is  found  in 
Newton  County,  especially  at  Seneca  and  Racine.^  There  is  increasing 
demand  for  this  substance  in  the  manufacture  of  filters,  abrasive,  and 
polish.  The  local  deposits  probably  will  be  able  to  take  care  of  the 
future  demands  of  the  United  States  for  an  indefinite  period. 

Salt. — Brine  springs  have  been  utilized  in  the  past  on  a  number  of 
streams  in  Cooper  and  Howard  counties,  m  Jefferson  County,  and  on 
Saline  Creek,  Ste.  Gehevieve  County.^  They  were  a  valuable  resource 
in  the  early  history  of  the  region,  but  are  no  longer  of  significance. 

Coal. — Although  the  Coal  Measures  do  not  extend  into  the  Ozarks, 
coal  has  been  found  in  thirty-five  Ozark  counties.  It  was  formed  mostly 
from  vegetatiori  which  accumulated  in  sink  holes  and  was  buried.  Few 
of  these  pockets  are  more  than  an  acre  in  extent.  Like  the  other  sink 
deposits,  it  is  remarkably  thick,  beds  of  ninety  feet  being  known.  They 
are  small  in  yield,  however,  500,000  tons  being  an  exceptional  aggre- 
gate for  one  pocket.^  Because  of  their  small  size  the  deposits  are  of 
local  value  only.  The  coal  pockets  have  been  the  instrument  of  numer- 
ous frauds,  having  been  used  in  promotion  schemes  which  exploited 
their  vertical  extent  but  concealed  their  horizontal  limitations. 

'  Wheeler,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  XI.  '  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Bull.  j4q,  p.  429. 

3  Shumard,  Reports  Geol.  Surv.  of  Missouri  (1855-71),  pp.  302,  313. 
t  Hinds,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  XI,  10. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  49 

Variety  of  mineral  resources. — The  Ozark  Highland  has  no  luck  of 
minerals,  except  of  mineral  fuels.  In  only  two  counties,  however,  St. 
Francois  and  Jasper,  is  the  mineral  wealth  so  great  as  to  have  attracted 
much  nonresident  capital,  resulting  in  mining  development  on  a  large 
scale.  With  these  exceptions  the  mineral  resources,  though  well  dis- 
tributed, are  not  large,  and  are  important  chiefly  as  (i)  aids  to  the  early 
development  of  the  region,  and  (2)  as  accessory  means  of  livelihood.  The 
salt  springs,  iron  ore,  and  "float"  lead  ore  supplied  pioneer  needs, 
and  thus  were  powerful  factors  in  aiding  settlement.  At  present  a 
considerable  quantity  of  minerals  is  being  produced  by  small  operators, 
especially  by  farmers,  during  the  winter  season. 

WATERS 

Streams. — On  the  northern  and  eastern  margins  of  the  Ozarks  are 
the  two  largest  rivers  of  the  United  States.  They  are  also  two  of  the 
most  important  interior  waterways  of  the  country  and  have  been 
extremely  significant  in  the  development  of  the  Ozarks.  Although  there 
are  within  the  region  at  least  a  score  of  other  streams  sufficiently  large 
to  be  called  rivers,  their  utility  for  navigation  is  small.  This  is  the 
result  of  their  inaccessibility  from  producing  areas,  deficient  volume, 
swift  current,  sinuous  courses,  and  the  character  of  their  channels. 
Mostly  they  are  bordered  by  poor  and  rugged  hills,  which  act  as  barriers 
between  river  and  the  adjacent  undissected  uplands.  The  meanders  of 
many  of  these  streams,  as  of  the  Osage  and  Gasconade,  impose  very 
devious  courses  upon  water-borne  traffic.  The  stream  channels  are 
fairly  stable  for  the  most  part,  but  they  are  shoaled  in  many  places  by 
bars  of  gravel  or  sand.  These  bars  are  serious  obstructions,  even  to 
boats  of  shallow  draft,  except  in  high  water. 

Water  power  constitutes  one  of  the  great  resources  of  the  Ozarks. 
Rainfall,  relief,  character  of  rock  formations,  and  extensive  forest  cover 
create  excellent  hydrographic  conditions.  There  are  many  streams 
of  moderate  size,  vigorous  current,  and  steady  flow.  The  large  propor- 
tion of  their  water  which  is  supplied  by  springs  is  a  stabilizing  factor  of  im- 
portance. "The  minimum  flow  of  these  rivers  is  greatly  increased  by  the 
springs,  and  is  much  greater  than  the  flow  of  the  streams  of  equal  drain- 
age areas  in  north  Missouri."'  The  ordinary  low-water  flow  of  Black 
River,,  for  instance,  is  principally  from  springs.^    Because  of  the  large 

'  Rodhouse,  "Preliminary  Study  Relating  to  the  Water  Resources  of  Missouri," 
Missouri  State  Univ.  Eng.  Exp.  Sla.  Bull,  ij,  p.  12. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  20. 


50  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

amount  of  underground  drainage  and  because  the  surface  run-off  flows 
largely  down  forested  slopes,  little  sediment  is  washed  into  the  streams, 
and  the  filling  in  of  reservoirs  is  therefore  not  so  serious  a  matter  as  in 
many  hill  sections.  Gradients  are  for  the  most  part  steep.  In  the 
interior  section  they  rarely  fall  below  3  to  5  feet  per  mile,  and  in  many 
streams,  sufficiently  large  for  hydroelectric-power  development,  they 
reach  25  feet.'  Rock-floored  stream  beds  and  narrow,  precipitous  valley 
slopes  facilitate  the  construction  of  secure  dams.  Few  measurements 
have  been  published  on  the  regimen  of  Ozark  streams  or  on  their  power 
possibilities.  Current  River  at  Van  Buren  had  a  mean  discharge  of  i , 1 5 1 
second  feet  in  1913,  and  on  the  basis  of  sixteen-hour  service  and  a  50  per 
cent  load  factor  is  considered  capable  of  developing  at  this  place  7,500 
h.p.,  with  a  mean  head  of  25  feet.^  Power  possibihties  equally  as  good, 
and  better,  can  be  found  on  other  Ozark  rivers.  Some  of  the  best  smaller 
sites  are  at  the  "shut-ins"  of  the  St.  Francois  region,  where  streams 
form  long  rapids,  inclosed  by  nearly  sheer  walls.  The  incised  meanders 
of  Ozark  streams  have  resulted  in  projects  at  various  places  for  the 
development  of  hydroelectric  power.  In  Pulaski  County  the  Gasconade 
River  makes  the  8-mile  Moccasin  Bend,  which  brings  the  river  back 
to  within  a  thousand  feet  of  the  beginning  of  the  loop.  A  turmel  through 
this  neck  would  give  a  fall  of  20  feet,  capable  of  developing  5,000  h.p.^ 
Above  and  below  are  other  similar  bends. 

Stages  of  low  water  are  not  very  troublesome  on  most  large  Ozark 
streams.  Underground  drainage  contributes  to  every  river  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  and  the  thousands  of  square  miles  of  forest  cover  act 
as  reservoirs.  Current  River  at  Van  Buren,  with  a  mean  discharge  of 
1,151  second  feet  in  19 13,  had  a  minimum  discharge  nearly  half  as  great, 
540  feet.'' 

Floods  are  by  far  the  most  serious  problem  in  the  use  of  the  Ozark 
valleys  and  their  streams.  During  the  spring  and  winter  following 
the  drought  of  1901  the  Osage  was  in  places  40  feet  deep.^  At  Van 
Buren,  on  the  Current  River,  a  discharge  of  36,000  second  feet  has  been 
recorded.^  The  Big  Piney  River  in  May,  1892,  rose  30  feet  from  4:00 
P.M.  to  12:00  midnight.     The  Current  River  during  this  same  month 

'  Marbut,  Missouri  Geol.  Sttrv.,  X,  89. 

'  Rodhouse,  op.  cit.,  pp.  23-31. 

3  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  116. 

*  Rodhouse,  op.  cit.,  p.  27. 

s  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  I,  14. 

*  Rodhouse,  op.  cit. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  5 1 

rose  27  feet  in  about  the  same  time.'  In  October  and  November,  1914, 
rises  of  20  to  more  than  30  feet  took  place  overnight  on  the  Meramec 
and  Gasconade  rivers  and  their  tributaries.  Small  valleys,  which  had 
been  without  the  semblance  of  a  stream  in  the  evening,  held  torrents  the 
next  morning  which  a  man  on  horseback  could  not  ford.  In  the  summer 
of  191 5  almost  every  large  river  and  creek  in  the  Ozarks  was  out  of  its 
banks  from  two  to  five  times,  and  communication  between  many  places 
was  suspended  for  days  at  a  time.  It  is  said  that  Maries  Creek  rose  20 
feet  in  three  hours,  tore  loose  a  raft  of  900  ties,  and  carried  it  8  miles  in 
43  minutes.  The  streams  usually  subside  nearly  as  rapidly  as  they 
rise,  but  while  they  are  in  flood  they  may  do  great  damage.  Banks  are 
undercut,  trees  uprooted  and  swept  away,  fences  demolished,  haystacks 
and  shocks  of  grain  carried  off,  and  fields  overspread  with  gravel  and 
driftwood.  In  the  lower  valleys  the  deposits  of  alluvium  which  are  left 
often  increase  ne.xt  year's  crop  sufficiently  to  make  good  the  losses  of  the 
previous  season.  Floods  are  the  result  of  heavy  rains,  of  rains  on  frozen 
ground,  or  of  sudden  thaws,  to  all  of  which  the  region  is  subject.  The 
thin  soil  may  be  saturated  in  a  brief  period,  and  as  the  water  does  not 
enter  readily  into  the  compact  underlying  rock  much  of  it  flows  off.  In 
very  heavy  rains  brooks  form  in  the  smallest  ravines  and  rapidly  become 
torrents,  which,  emptying  into  a  larger  stream,  may  swell  its  volume  so 
rapidly  that  its  rise  will  be  in  a  series  of  well-defined  waves. 

Springs  and  underground  waters. — Excepting  the  crystalline  core, 
parts  of  the  sandstone  areas,  and  a  few  border  regions,  almost  no  Ozark 
valley  is  without  abundant  spring  water.  Webster  County  claims  "by 
actual  count  more  than  2,400  living  springs  of  clear  water. "^  In 
Shannon,  Oregon,  and  adjoining  counties  are  springs  "which  are  prob- 
ably the  largest  in  the  world. "^  The  largest  of  these  is  Greer  Spring, 
8  miles  from  Alton,  which  flows  at  the  rate  of  430,000,000  gallons  per 
day*  and  forms  a  stream,  at  its  minimum  25  feet  wide  and  3  feet  deep.^ 
Big  Spring  near  Van  Buren  forms  a  stream  100  feet  wide  and  discharges 
223,000,000  gallons  per  day.^  Bryce's  Spring  in  Dallas  County  has  an 
estimated  flow  of  161,568,000  gallons  per  day,  and  Hahatonka  Spring 
in  Camden  County,  of  158,982,000  gallons."     Other  huge  springs  are 

•  Nason,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  90.  'Slate  of  Missouri,  1904,  p.  539. 
i  Shep)ard,  U.S.  Gcol.  Surv.,  Walcr  Supply  and  Irrigation  Paper  igs,  p.  214. 

*  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Missouri,  IQ12,  191 3,  1914,  PP-  132-33- 

5  Shepard,  U.S.  Geol.  Sure,  Water  Supply  and  Irrigation  Paper  114,  p.  217; 
also  No.  no,  pp.  117-20. 

'  Rodhouse,  op.  cit.,  p.  17.  '  Shepard,  op.  cit. 


52  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Alley's,  near  Eminence,  Meramec,  in  Phelps  County,  Fullbright,  in 
Greene,  and  Waynesville,  in  Pulaski  County  (Plate  III  b).  Plate  XI  b 
illustrates  springs  of  intermediate  size,  which  exist  in  large  numbers. 
Ozark  springs  attracted  the  attention  of  the  earliest  travelers  and 
frontiersmen  because  of  their  number,  size,  and  excellence;  some  of  them 
were  known  early  as  the  sources  of  rivers/  They  are  of  value  not  only 
for  water  supply  but  as  well  for  power  purposes. 

On  the  undissected  uplands  the  underground  water  can  be  tapped 
by  boring,  but  because  of  its  depth  and  because  of  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment of  the  region  very  few  wells  have  been  sunk.  In  mining  operations 
generally  large  quantities  of  water  are  encountered  and  pumps  are  in 
operation  constantly.  In  the  southeastern  lead  region  the  mines  furnish 
enough  water  ordinarily  for  concentrating  the  ore  and  for  the  water 
supply  of  the  mining  towns.  In  the  Federal  Lead  Company's  shafts 
Nos.  2  and  3,  900  to  1,600  gallons  enter  per  minute;  in  shafts  Nos. 
6  and  7,  about  2,000.^ 

Ponds. — The  upland  farmer  is  in  many  cases  too  far  from  springs  to 
benefit  by  them.  His  water  supply  is  from  cisterns  and  ponds,  both 
easily  constructed  in  the  heavy  clay  soils  characteristic  of  the  Ozark 
prairies.  Many  sink  holes  furnish  a  satisfactory  water  supply.  If 
they  have  not  become  clogged  accidentally,  the  farmer  converts  them 
readily  into  deep  ponds  by  dumping  in  rocks  or  brush  to  catch  the  slope 
wash,  or,  if  they  have  a  floor  of  clay,  by  feeding  stock  in  them  and  thus 
puddling  the  floor  (Plate  XII  a), 

NATIVE   LIFE 

Distribution  of  woodland  and  prairie. — When  the  first  white  men  came 
to  the  Ozark  Highland,  they  found  that  "both  the  bottoms  and  the  high 
ground  are  alternately  divided  into  woodlands  and  prairies.  "^  Old 
settlers  unanimously  state  that  the  forest  area  is  at  present  greater  than 
when  the  region  was  first  settled.  "  The  greater  part  ....  was  up  to 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  region  of  open  woods,  large  areas 
being  almost  treeless."''  It  appears  that  the  general  distribution  of 
prairie  and  woodland  was  much  the  same  as  at  present,  namely,  that 
grasses  grew  on  the  undissected  plateau  remnants  and  forests  occupied 

'  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana  (ist  ed.),  p.  100;  Bradbuty,  in  Early  Western 
Travels,  V. 

'  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IX,  97,  113. 

3  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana  (1812),  p.  213. 

4  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  p.  17. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  53 

the  hilly  regions.  Prairie  patches  were,  however,  somewhat  larger  than 
at  present  and  the  forest  areas  correspondingly  more  restricted.  Also 
many  forested  tracts  had  a  parklike  character,  young  trees  and  brush 
being  largely  wanting.  The  country  north  of  the  Meramec  was  observed 
in  181 1  as  rather  thinly  timbered.^  It  is  related  that  a  Spanish  com- 
mandant in  1790  asserted  his  ability  to  drive  a  coach-and-four  through 
the  open  woods  from  New  Madrid  to  St.  Louis.^ 

The  relatively  smooth  western  part  was  mostly  prairie,  whereas  the 
hilly  eastern  region  consisted  largely  of  open  woodland  and  small 
prairies.  The  boundary  between  the  region  predominantly  of  prairie 
characteristics  and  the  region  with  open  woods  dominant  lay  west  of  the 
Gasconade  and  White  River  basins.  At  the  north  Jefferson  City  was 
approximately  at  the  line  of  contact  of  the  two  areas.''  East  of  this 
line  were  the  famous  pine  forests  of  the  Gasconade,  as  well  as  the  forested 
country  of  the  White  River.^  This  eastern  and  northern  region  con- 
sisted in  the  main  of  woodland,  the  stand  being  less  dense  than  at  present. 
In  it,  however,  the  small  areas  of  level  upland,  that  is,  the  remnants  of  the 
original  plateau  surface,  were  in  large  part  prairie.  Stoddard,  writing 
of  the  eastern  part  in  181 2,  characterized  the  interstream  uplands  as 
follows:  "Prairies  are  very  numerous;  but  few  of  them  within  our 
settlements,  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  them,  are  of  any  considerable 
extent.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  are  many  miles  long;  but  they  are  nar- 
row."5  Figs.  15  and  16  show  the  early  distribution  of  prairie  and  wood- 
land in  Cooper  County,  on  the  northern  border,  and  in  Miller  County, 
in  the  interior  hill  country.  In  these  two  counties  prairies  were  co- 
extensive with  the  level  uplands,  the  densest  stand  of  timber  being  in 
the  most  dissected  regions. 

(i)  Of  the  various  influences  that  caused  prairies  on  the  uplands, 
man  was  chief.  Indians  and  other  hunters  were  wont  to  set  tire  to  the 
grass  in  fall  or  spring  in  order  to  improve  the  grazing  for  the  buffalo, 
elk,  and  other  big  game.  Fires  were  also  set  to  drive  the  game  toward 
the  hunters.*  Through  this  practice  sprouts  and  tree  seedlings  were 
killed,  and  thus  the  grasslands  were  extended  at  the  expense  of  the 
forests.     Prairie  fires  are  mentioned  by  almost  every  early  writer  as 

'  Brackenridge,  Vieu-s  of  Louisiana,  p.  108. 

'  Houck,  History  of  Missouri,  I,  26. 

^  State  Board  of  Immigration,  Handbook  of  Missouri  (1881),  p.  11;  Brommc, 
Missouri  (1835),  p.  12. 

*  Schoolcraft,  View  of  the  Lead  Mines,  pp.  248-50;  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  loi. 

*  Stoddard,  loc.  cit.  *  Ibid. 


54 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


the  cause  of  the  prairies.'  An  incident  illustrating  this  early  opinion 
was  a  refusal  in  1830  by  the  United  States  of  a  grant  of  land  to  raise 
timber  in  south  Missouri,  on  the  ground  that  "it  is  only  necessary 
to  keep  out  the  fires  to  cover  the  prairies  with  timber  by  the  operations 
of  nature."^  The  practice  of  burning  was  continued  by  settlers  for 
many  years,   principally   to  provide   grazing   for   their   stock.     With 


[nniR^irce 

5alt  SptinS 


Fig.  15. — Distribution  of  prairie  and  woodland  in  Cooper  County  about  1855 
(after  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  I,  202). 


settlement  the  forest  began  to  reclaim  the  burned-over  tracts.  The 
incipiency  of  such  a  change  is  recorded  in  an  account  of  Howell  County, 
on  the  Arkansas  border,  in  1844.  "The  table  lands  ....  had  very 
little  timber  growing  on  them,  but  were  not  prairie.  There  were  what 
were  known  as  post  oak  runners  and  other  brush  growing  on  the  table 

'  Stoddard,  loc.  cit.;  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  108;  Featherstonhaugh,  Excursion 
through  the  Slave  States,  I,  354-55;  Swallow,  Lands  and  Minerals  of  Southwest  Missouri, 
p.  4;   Duden,  Der  Ansiedler  im  Staat  Missouri,  p.  92. 

'American  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  VI,  174. 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES 


55 


lands,  but  the  grass  turf  was  very  heavy  and  in  the  spring  of  the  year 
the  grass  would  soon  cover  the  sprouts  and  the  stranger  would  have  taken 
all  of  the  table  lands,  except  where  it  was  interspersed  with  groves, 
to  have  been  prairie."'    In  the  foregoing  quotation  the  scattered  groves 


Fig.  i6. — Distribution  of  prairie  and  woodland  in  Miller  County  before  1859. 
This  county  is  unusually  hilly  (after  Gcol.  Stirv.  Missouri  Repls.,  1855-71,  p.  no). 

of  old  trees  record  the  first  cycle  of  vegetation;  the  turf,  the  ne.xt  suc- 
cession, consists  of  grasses  resulting  from  fires,  and  the  sprouts  and  seed- 
lings are  the  third  stage  and  the  first  step  in  the  re-establishment  of 
forest  conditions.     (2)  In  the  western  plateau  region  there  are  small, 

'  Monks,  History  of  Southern  Missouri  and  Northern  A  rkansas,  pp.  7-8. 


56  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

flat,  and  poorly  drained  areas  which  are  unfavorable  to  tree  growth. 
(3)  The  western  border  is  continuous  with  the  prairies  of  Kansas  and 
Oklahoma,  and  like  them  is  a  response  in  part  to  high  evaporation  and 
occasional  drought.  (4)  Small  grassy  areas,  which  are  not  known  as 
prairies  locally,  are  due  to  deficiency  of  soil  and  ground  water.  These 
are  the  so-called  "balds"  and  "glades"  (see  p.  15). 

The  prairies  enjoyed  an  excellent  reputation  among  the  stock- 
raisers.  They  were  said  to  afford  "an  easy  grass  for  cattle"  and  an 
"abundance  of  hay  of  no  very  inferior  quality."^  The  most  abundant 
grass  and  the  most  prized  was  the  bluestem,  because  of  its  nutritiousness 
and  rapid  growth.  It  was  said  to  grow  "as  high  as  a  man's  head  and 
he  upon  an  ordinary  horse. "^  It  has  not  withstood  the  severe  grazing 
to  which  the  region  has  been  subjected,  and  is  now  rare.  With  the 
passing  of  the  bluestem  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  came  into  the  region 
and  now  grows  wild  wherever  the  soil  is  of  sufficient  depth.  Before 
1850  it  had  not  been  found  in  pastures,  but  by  1870  it  had  become  com- 
mon in  pastures  and  on  roadsides,^  and  now  is  distributed  generally 
through  the  limestone  region  of  the  Ozarks.  More  recently  the  sweet 
clover  has  made  its  appearance,  establishing  itself  along  roadsides, 
on  stony  slopes,  and  on  gravel  bars  in  creek  beds.  Although  little  used, 
it  will  prove  probably  a  valuable  forage  plant.  Japan  clover  (lespedeza 
striata)  has  begun  its  invasion  of  the  Ozarks,  from  the  south.  Observed 
in  the  White  River  hills  in  1896,''  it  has  overspread  the  western  border 
almost  to  the  Missouri  River.  In  Cape  Girardeau  and  Perry  counties  it 
is  growing  wild  in  abundance,  in  forests,  along  roadsides,  and  in  unused 
fields.  A  little  of  it  has  been  observed  north  of  the  Missouri  River,  in 
Warren  County.  It  was  probably  not  introduced  in  the  southeast  before 
1900,  but  it  is  spreading  rapidly  northward,  thriving  like  the  sweet  clover, 
even  on  thin  and  stony  soils.  It  is  altogether  the  most  significant  forage 
plant  that  has  naturalized  itself  in  the  state  since  the  blue  grass. 

Forest  associations. — Extensive  forests  of  yellow  and  white  pine 
were  found  in  early  years  on  the  Piney  forks  of  the  Gasconade,^  and  in 
Ozark,  Douglas,^  Reynolds,   Carter,^  and  Washington  counties.^     In 

'  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana  (1812),  p.  213.  '  Monks,  op.  cil.,  p.  7. 

3  Broadhead,  in  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  VI,  154. 

*  Hoover,  Missouri  State  Board  Agric.  Bull.  Ill,  No.  8,  pp.  4-5. 

5  Flint,  Hist,  and  Geog.  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  304;  Bromme,  Missouri,  p.  16. 
^  Shumard,  Reports  Geol.  Surv.  Missouri  (1855-71),  pp.  201-2. 
'  Eighth  Ann.  Rept.  State  Board  of  Agric,  p.  54. 

*  Third  Ann.  Agrie.  Rept.  of  Missouri,  p.  345. 


MA  TENIA  L  RESOURCES 


57 


Ozark  County  there  were  pine  forests  in  the  sixties,  which,  it  was  claimed 
with  generous  exaggeration,  would  compare  favorably  in  size  and  quality 
with  the  forests  of  Wisconsin  and' Minnesota .  One  of  these  "pineries" 
embraced  not  less  than  130  square  miles,  another  about  90.'  A  portion 
of  the  interior  hill  section  was  said,  in  the  forties,  to  yield  logs  80  to  90 
feet  in  length,  and  with  a  maximum  diameter  of  4  feet.^     Fig.  17  shows 


[         J  Pinertea 

A      nuis 

Fig.  17. — "Pineries"  in  Ozark  County,  1855  (after  Geol.  Surv.  Missouri  Rcpts., 
1855-71). 


the  distribution  of  the  larger  areas  of  pine  forest  in  Ozark  County. 
Pine  forests  occupied  most  of  the  sandy  land,  part  of  the  flint  ridges 
(especially  the  southern  part  of  the  Clarksville  soil),^  and  in  the  southern 
counties  also  grew  on  the  flat  clay  uplands.     The  only  other  common 

'Shumard,  op.  cil. 

'  Grund,  Handbuch  und  Wegwciscr  fiir  Auswaiiderer  (1846),  p.  213. 

^  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  106. 


58         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

evergreen  tree  is  the  red  cedar.  It  grows  chiefly  on  xerophytic  hme- 
stone  ledges,  which  are  thinly  covered  with  soil.  Here  it  flourishes  and 
forms  the  so-called  cedar  glades,  parklike  groves,  composed  of  trees  of 
highly  symmetrical  forms. 

Upland  and  lowland  hardwood  types  are  sharply  contrasted.  The 
upland  forests  are  composed  almost  exclusively  of  oaks,  constituting 
one  of  the  largest  areas  of  oak  forest  and  one  of  the  least  mixed 
stands  of  oak  to  be  found  in  the  country.  White  oak,  post  oak, 
black  oak,  and  black  jack  are  the  main  varieties.  Of  its  total  tim- 
bered area,  Barry  County  reports  60  per  cent  in  black  oak,  20  per 
cent  in  post  oak,  and  the  remainder  mixed.  In  some  of  the  other 
counties  the  percentages  have  been  given  as  follows:  Douglas,  white 
oak  20,  black  oak  24,  black  jack  10,  post  oak  5;  Iron,  black  oak  40, 
white  oak  40,  pine  5;  Miller,  black  oak  20,  commercial  white  oak  5, 
black  jack  35,  post  oak  30;  Texas,  black  jack  35,  black  oak  25,  white 
oak  20;  Washington,  white  oak  35,  black  oak  25,  black  jack  15,^  On 
the  ridges  black  oak  and  white  oak  are  most  common;  on  the  hillsides, 
post  oak,  white  oak,  and  black  jack,  the  last  principally  on  very  dry, 
stony  hillsides.  Besides  the  varieties  mentioned,  the  chinquapin  oak 
is  found  on  the  margins  of  bluffs.  Hickories,  especially  the  shellbark 
and  pignut,  grow  among  the  oaks  on  the  better  upland  soils.  On  the 
west  the  margin  between  true  forest  and  true  prairie  is  marked  by  a 
scrub  oak,  black  jack  association,  denoting  increasing  xerophytism.^ 
In  most  upland  forests  the  timber  other  than  oak  forms  a  very  small 
fraction  of  the  stand,  in  many  cases  less  than  i  per  cent.  The  rate  of 
growth  of  upland  forests  is  slow.  Giant  trees  are  unknown  on  the  ridges, 
even  where  there  has  been  no  cutting.  The  second  growth,  which  is  in 
very  large  amount,  usually  forms  a  dense  stand  of  tall,  slim  trunks. 

In  the  valleys,  because  of  the  deeper  and  richer  soil  and  the  greater 
shading  and  moisture  supply,  there  is  a  greater  variety  of  forest  species, 
and  individual  trees  grow  to  much  larger  size  than  09  the  uplands. 
Sycamore,  cottonwood,  sugar  maple,  water  maple,  walnut,  butternut, 
hackberry,  tulip  tree,  and  bur  oak  were  most  abundant  originally, ^  In 
addition  the  red  oak,  willow  oak,  sour  gum,  ash,  pawpaw,"*  pecan,  and 

^  State  of  Missouri  (1Q04),  county  reports.  'Ibid.,  p.  234. 

3  Muench,  Dcr  Staat  Mis<;onri,  pp.  35-37. 

■•  Joutel  {Hist.  Coll.  of  Louisiana,  I,  181-82),  without  naming  it,  gave  an  unmis- 
takable description  of  its  fruit  in  1687,  based  on  an  observation  in  Ste.  Genevieve 
County.  This  marks  probably  the  first  appearance  of  the  pawpaw  in  literature.  He 
described  the  fruit  as  being  "shaped  like  a  middling  pear,  with  stones  in  it  as  big  as 
large  beans.  When  ripe  it  peels  Uke  a  peach;  the  taste  is  indifferent  good,  but  rather 
of  the  sweetest." 


MATERIAL  RESOURCES  59 

many  others  are  found  abundantly.  Oaks  are  represented  by  an 
extraordinary  number  of  species.  Richest  of  all  is  the  forest  flora  of 
the  lowlands  and  better  limestone  soils  of  Cape  Girardeau,  Perry,  and 
Wayne  counties,  where  such  southern  forms  as  the  cypress,  gums, 
pecans,  and  Spanish  red  oak  mingle  with  representatives  from  the  east, 
such  as  the  beech,  and  with  the  forest  associations  characteristic  of  cen- 
tral Missouri.  Wherever  loess  occurs  the  characteristic  vegetation  of 
the  bottoms  extends  to  the  uplands,  and  grows  as  luxuriantly  there  as 
on  the  lower  sieves. 

Here,  as  in  other  sections,  land  has  been  judged  largely  by  kind  and 
size  of  trees  growing  upon  it,  and  is  still  described  commonly  in  terms  of 
its  prevailing  tree  growth.  Any  of  the  characteristic  mesophytic  species, 
such  as  tulip,  hackberry,  bur  oak,  or  walnut,  are  the  farmer's  guaranty  of 
first-class  soil.  Hickory  lands  are  preferred  to  oak;  black  oak  {qiiercus 
vehUina)  land  is  preferred  to  that  on  which  post  oak  grows;  and  black 
jack  or  pine  are  considered  proof  of  the  agricultural  unfitness  of  the  soil. 

Since  the  settlement  of  the  region  the  following  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  character  of  the  forest :  (i)  greater  density  of  stand  and  more 
undergrowth,  as  the  result  of  the  cutting  of  the  large  timber  and  the 
cessation  of  fires;  (2)  a  great  decrease  in  the  lowland  forest  area;  (3)  a 
relative  increase  of  those  species  that  have  the  most  efficient  means  of 
propagation.  Here  are,  in  the  first  place,  the  oaks  and  elms,  with  their 
coppicing  habits,  and  in  the  bottoms  the  sycamore  and  cottonwood, 
with  wind-blown  seeds. 

Game  and  fish: — The  native  fauna  constituted  one  of  the  principal 
attractions  of  the  region  to  early  settlers.  The  open  woodland,  rich 
grasses,  many  fine  springs,  and  numerous  salt  licks  provided  conditions 
under  which  deer,  bison,  and  elk  throve.  In  the  homes  of  pioneers 
even  now  splendid  elks'  antlers  and  buffalo  robes  recall  the  days  of  big- 
game  hunting.  These  animals  attracted  carnivorous  beasts,  wolves, 
bears,  panthers,  and  wild  cats.  In  the  streams  lived  beaver,'  otter, 
and  muskrat.  Other  lesser  fur-bearing  animals,  mostly  found  in  the 
forests,  were  the  mink,  raccoon,  opossum,  skunk,  fox,  gray  squirrel, 
and  cottontail  rabbit.  Bison,  elk,  and  beaver  have  disappeared  from 
the  region.  The  others  still  are  found,  though  for  the  most  part  in 
rapidly  declining  numbers.  It  is  asserted  that  deer  and  wolves  are  on 
the  increase  recently,  because  the  slash  left  by  lumbermen  in  certain 
sections  affords  means  of  concealment.' 

'  Schoolcraft,  View  of  the  Lead  Mines,  p.  249. 
'  State  of  Missouri  (1904),  p.  227. 


6o  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Game  birds  were  similarly  abundant  in  early  years.     In  1819 
was  said  that  passenger  pigeons  "are  so  numerous  that  the  woods  seem 
alive  with  them."'    The  region  still  affords  some  of   the  best  turkey 
and  quail  hunting  in  the  country,  but  turkeys  are  found  only  in  remote 
sections,  and  quail  are  probably  not  so  plentiful  as  formerly. 

Ozark  streams  are  stocked  abundantly  with  fish  of  many  kinds. 
T}^ically  such  a  stream  consists  of  a  series  of  shoals  or  "riffles"  and  of 
pools  which  are  lined  with  rock  ledges  or  with  driftwood.  The  water 
is  cool  and  clear  and  flows  in  the  main  over  a  firm  gravel  .bottom.  These 
are  ideal  conditions  for  game  fish,  and  consequently  every  stream  of  this 
character  abounds  in  bass  as  well  as  in  jack  salmon  (wall-eyed  pike), 
stone  cat,  and,  in  quiet  pools,  sunfish,  locally  called  "perch"  or  "peerch," 
and  suckers.  On  rocks,  colonies  of  hog  suckers  may  be  seen  lying.  The 
shoals  are  frequented  by  schools  of  minnows,  largely  of  the  dace,  darter, 
silversides,  and  chub  varieties.  Trout  have  been  introduced  with 
success  into  the  Meramec  and  other  cold,  spring-fed  streams.  On  the 
lower  stretches,  where  the  current  is  sluggish  and  the  bottom  muddy, 
channel  cat,  bullheads,  buffalo,  crappie,  short-nosed  gar,  and  eels  are 
numerous. 

'  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36-37. 


CHAPTER  VI 
GEOGRAPHIC  REGIONS 
BASES   OF   SUBDIVISION 

In  1896  Marbut^  proposed  a  division  of  the  Ozarks  into  physio- 
graphic provinces  on  the  basis  of  escarpments.  This  scheme  was  adopted 
with  some  simpUfication  by  Adams/  who  also  added  the  St.  Francois 
Mountains  as  a  separate  division.  For  purposes  of  geographic  discussion 
the  subdivision  by  escarpments  is  unsatisfactory,  because  it  does  not 
imply  geographic  contrasts  and  because  it  is  based  on  a  single  physio- 
graphic element  which  is  applicable  only  to  the  border  region,  and  even 
there  only  in  small  part,  since  the  escarpments  are  discontinuous  over 
considerable  distances. 

In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  is  made  to  subdivide  the  Ozark 
Highland  of  Missouri  in  such  a  way  as  to  distinguish  each  area  which  has 
internal  unity  of  geographic  environment  and  is  in  contrast  with  the 
surrounding  areas.  To  this  end  the  location  of  the  area,  topography, 
drainage,  soils,  minerals,  water  supply,  and  vegetation  are  taken  into 
account.  Evidently  in  each  region  the  relative  significance  of  these 
elements  varies  greatly.  In  the  final  analysis  the  test  of  the  appropri- 
ateness of  th^se  divisions  is  determined  by  the  contrasts  exhibited  in  the 
conditions  and  occupations  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  different  areas  so  set 
apart. 

There  are  three  border  regions  (Fig.  18):  on  the  north  the  Missouri 
River  Border,  on  the  east  the  Mississippi  River  Border,  and  on  the  west 
the  Springfield  Plain.  The  St.  Francois  region  occupies  an  intermediate 
positic  n,  in  some  respects  belonging  to  the  border  groups,  in  others  to  the 
central  group.  The  Ozark  Center  is  composed  of  the  Central  Plateau, 
together  with  a  broad  belt  of  hills  partially  surrounding  it.  These  hill 
sections  are  designated  the  Courtois,  Osage-Gasconade,  and  White 
Ri-er  hill  regions.  Topographically  the  Central  Plateau  and  the  hill 
regions  are  in  sharp  contrast,  but  the  isolation  which  is  common  to  both 
types  has  expressed  itself  in  a  similar  development  and  has  differentiated 
them  from  the  border  areas. 

'  Missouri  Gcol.  Sun.,  X,  29-67,  and  Plate  II. 

'  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Twenty-second  Ann.  Rcpt.,  Part  2,  pp.  69-75;  also  Folio  iig. 

61 


62 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


MISSOURI  RIVER   BORDER 

The  Missouri  River  Border  occupies  nearly  5,500  square  miles,  of 
which  one-sixth  lies  north  of  the  river,  along  the  southern  edge  of  the 
glacial  plains.  As  it  is  a  transition  area  to  the  plains  of  north  Missouri, 
it  is  not  always  included  in  the  Ozarks  in  common  usage. 

In  its  most  generalized  form  the  region  is  a  shallow  trough,  through 
which  the  Missouri  River  flows.     The  trough  is  elongate  east  and  west 


Fig.  18. — Geographic  provinces  of  the  Ozark  Highland  of  Missouri:  I.  Missouri 
River  Border;  II,  Mississippi  River  Border;  III,  Springfield  Plain;  IV,  St.  Francois 
Knob  and  Basin  Region;  V,  Courtois  Hills;  VI,  Osage-Gasconade  River  Hills; 
VII,  White  River  Hills;  VIII,  Central  Plateau. 


and  is  tilted  up  at  the  west.  To  this  form  the  southern  tributaries  of  the 
Missouri  have  adapted  themselves  so  as  to  flow  in  general  in  a  north- 
easterly or  even  in  an  easterly  direction.  Perennial  streams  are  more 
numerous  and  on  the  average  larger  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Ozarlcs. 
The  southern  tributaries  of  the  Missouri  are  characterized  by  incised 
meanders  of  a  large  pattern,  whereas  the  northern  ones  have  relatively 
direct  courses.  The  number  and  size  of  the  streams  give  this  region 
accessibility  but  also  make  it  subject  to  floods. 


GEOGRAPHIC  REGIONS 


63 


The  greater  part  of  the  region  is  rolHng  upland,  some  of 
it  of  no  greater  relief  than  pronounced  morainic  topography 
(Plate  V  h).  It  contains  few  large  tracts  too  rough  for  agri- 
culture. Fig.  19,  a  profile  across  Franklin  County,  shows 
only  one  narrow  strip  along  the  Meraniec  River  in  which 
steep  slopes  prevail.  Near  the  Missouri  the  slopes  are 
lowest  on  the  average.  Plate  XII  b  illustrates  the  rolling 
upland  of  northern  Gasconade  County.  The  steepest  slopes 
are  along  the  middle  courses  of  the  tributaries,  that  is,  usually 
at  a  distance  of  5  to  15  miles  from  the  Missouri.  North  of  the 
river  the  stage  of  dissection  is  more  youthful;  the  valleys  are 
deep  and  steep-sided  and  the  interstream  areas,  even  near 
the  Missouri,  are  flat.  The  topography  north  of  the  river  is 
distinguished  also  by  two  interrupted  escarpments.  In  the 
proportion  of  arable  area  this  subdivision  ranks  second  to  the 
Springfield  Plain.  About  half  the  land  is  in  improved  farms 
and  is  divided  between  uplands  and  valleys. 

In  its  course  through  this  region  the  Missouri  River  is 
confined  between  rock  walls,  the  width  of  the  immediate 
valley  e.xceeding  two  miles  only  in  a  few  places,  and  aver- 
aging about  a  mile  and  a  half.  The  current  is  deflected  from 
one  side  of  the  valley  to  the  other  and  the  meanders  shift 
rapidly.  Missouri  River  bottom  farms  therefore  are  notori- 
ously precarious,  many  having  been  destroyed  entirely.  Its 
changing  course  keeps  the  valley  slopes  undercut  to  a  large 
degree,  so  that  bluffs  are  a  feature  of  every  Missouri  Valley 
landscape. 

Solution  features  are  not  conspicuous  because  of  the 
maturity  of  stream  erosion.  Springs  and  caves  are  in  general 
small.  Sink  holes  are  most  numerous  in  the  Burlington  Hme- 
stone  of  the  e.xtreme  western  part  of  the  area.' 

Soils  are  much  above  the  average  of  the  Ozark  region. 
The  proportion  of  alluvial  lands  to  total  area  is  greater  than 
in  any  other  section.  The  upland  soils  in  the  order  of  their 
desirability  are  loess,  Owensville  loam.  Union,  Lebanon,  and 
Howell.  Loess  areas  are  more  extensive  than  in  any  other 
section.     The  Owensville  loam  is  confined  to  this  region. 

Mineral  resources  are  varied,  but  not  of  great  value. 
Lead,  iron,  copper,  salt,  and  saltpeter  have  been  produced 

'  Van  Horn,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  III,  14. 


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64         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI^ 

in  times  past.     Coal  pockets  are  most  numerous  in  this  region,  and  fire 
clay  is  found  in  many  places. 

The  boundary  of  this  subdivision  on  the  east  is  placed  so  as  to  exclude 
the  dissected  Big  River  region  and  the  sandy  Tilsit  soils.  The  southern 
boundary  is  for  the  most  part  along  a  definite  break  in  topography, 
at  which  soil  conditions  also  change,  namely  along  the  northern  margins 


R©a.d 

Fig.  20. — Contact  between  Missouri  River  Border  and  Osage-Gasconade  River 
Hills  at  Versailles.     Contour  interval,  20  feet  (Gravois  Mills  Topographic  Sheet). 

of  the  Gasconade  limestone.  This  boundary  line  parallels  the  IMeramec 
River  to  the  vicinity  of  Rolla.  From  RoUa  north  to  Summerfield  it 
follows  the  edge  of  the  dissected  Gasconade  Valley.  The  boundary  from 
Summerfield  to  the  Osage  River  is  a  more  indefinite  zone.  To  the  south 
the  crowding  of  drainage  lines  has  resulted  in  intricate  dissection,  which 
is  further  emphasized  by  erosion  of  the  Gasconade  limestone.     This  line 


GEOGRAPHIC  REGIONS  65 

also  excludes  the  Iberia  bench  lands  from  the  Missouri  River  Border. 
Beyond  the  Osage  River  the  margin  of  the  Clarksville  soils  and  flint 
hills  again  provides  a  clear-cut  boundary  (Fig.  20). 

The  region,  well  supplied  with  means  of  transportation  and  possessed 
of  fairly  desirable  farmlands,  is  in  a  rather  advanced  degree  of  agricul- 
tural development  and  was  chosen  for  settlement  at  an  early  date.  The 
Missouri  River,  as  the  one  great  natural  highway  leading  west  from  the 
Mississippi,  was  the  first  line  of  settlement  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
Later  the  lower  Missouri  country  became  the  starting  and  outfitting 
station  for  most  expeditions  to  the  Far  West.  Lewis  and  Clark,  the 
Sante  Fe  traders,  the  fur  hunters,  and  the  Califomian  gold  hunters  all 
left  the  frontiers  of  civilization  on  the  lower  Missouri.  The  peculiar 
significance  of  this  river  highway  has  made  the  Missouri  River  Border, 
together  with  St.  Louis,  the  most  historic  ground  in  the  state. 

MISSISSIPPI   RIVER   BORDER 

On  the  east  the  Ozark  Border  comprises  about  2,500  square  miles, 
forming  a  narrow  strip  along  the  Mississippi  River.  From  this  river  the 
entire  area  is  readily  accessible. 

The  only  large  stream  crossing  the  region  is  Big  River.  The  surface 
in  general  slopes  rather  sharply  from  the  igneous  knobs  and  Gasconade 
limestone  hills  on  the  west  down  to  the  Mississippi,  and  is  crossed  by 
many  small  streams.  These  have  relatively  straight  courses,  and  for  the 
most  part  flow  radially  from  the  St.  Francois  region. 

Especially  on  the  north,  elevation,  slope,  nearness  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  nature  of  the  rock  formations  have  aided  dissection,  resulting  in 
a  region  of  sharply  contrasted  hills  and  valleys.^  Here  the  sides  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley  consist  of  wooded  hills  and  sheer  bluffs  (Plate  XIII). 
On  the  south,  especially  in  Cape  Girardeau  County,  the  greater  width 
and  lesser  elevation  of  the  area  have  expressed  themselves  in  a  gently 
rolling  limestone  upland,  similar  to  north  central  Kentucky.  The 
belted  structure  of  the  rocks  is  reproduced  in  the  topography  by  a 
jiarallel  series  of  scarps  and  platforms,  best  developed  in  Ste.  Genevieve 
County,  and  nearly  wanting  in  the  southern  part.  In  the  central  and 
southern  sections  sink  holes  are  more  numerous  than  in  any  other  part 
of  the  Ozarks,  and  over  many  square  miles  determine  the  character  of 
the  topography.  Springs  are  mostly  of  small  size,  uncertain  flow,  and 
in  the  sink-hole  region  subject  to  surface  contamination. 

'  See  the  Crj'stal  City  or  Renault  topographic  sheets. 


66  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Due  to  the  structure  of  the  rocks  the  residual  soils  form  belts  extend- 
ing from  north  to  south,  as  shown  in  Fig.  ii.  The  excellent  Hagerstown 
soils  belong  exclusively  to  this  region,  as  do  the  Pocahontas  and  the 
Tilsit  soils,  the  last  of  inferior  value.  The  proportion  of  alluvial  land 
is  considerably  less  than  on  the  Missouri  River  Border,  and  at  least  in 
the  southern  part  it  is  less  desirable  because  of  poor  drainage.  The  loess 
belt  along  the  river  is  also  much  less  important  than  along  the  northern 
border.  As  in  the  latter,  the  resources  of  this  province  are  mainly 
agricultural.  Cape  Girardeau  County  especially  constituting  one  of  the 
most  productive  counties  of  Missouri. 

The  forest  is  more  varied  in  composition  and  more  luxuriant  in 
growth  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  Ozarks,  although  its  area  is  not 
so  extensive  as  in  the  interior  districts. 

Mineral  resources  are  small  and  limited  mostly  to  quarry  products 
and  kaolin.  In  the  past,  salt  and  lead  have  been  produced  from  this 
region. 

The  boundary  on  the  west  is  defined  by  a  belt  of  rugged  flint  hills, 
forming  in  part  the  Avon  escarpment  of  Marbut'  and  represented  on  the 
soil  map  as  the  easternmost  extension  of  the  Clarksville  type.  The 
area  could  readily  be  further  subdivided  into  a  southern  and  northern 
portion,  the  economic  resources  of  the  former  being  far  superior  to  those 
of  the  latter. 

SPRINGFIELD   PLAIN 

This  region  corresponds  in  the  main  to  the  Springfield  Structural 
Plain  of  Marbut,^  and  has  an  area  of  more  than  5,500  square  miles.  It 
forms  the  western  border  of  the  Ozarks  and  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  the  Burlington  escarpment  and  the  dissected  country  of  the  Pomme 
de  Terre  and  Osage  valleys.  For  the  most  part  it  is  a  gently  sloping 
plain,  covered  by  the  fertile  Springfield  soils,  and  is  less  diversified  in 
surface  and  soil  than  any  other  district  of  the  Ozarks.  The  relief 
is  less  and  the  soil  conditions  are  better  than  in  the  rest  of  the  Ozarks. 
Streams  flow  in  rather  steep-sided  valleys,  which,  however,  are  not  deep, 
except  along  the  eastern  margin.  The  Neosho  topographic  sheet  shows 
the  characteristically  youthful  stage  of  dissection,  especially  in  the  near 
approach  of  Diamond  Grove  Prairie  to  Shoal  Creek,  the  largest  stream 
of  the  county.  The  distribution  of  timber  along  the  valley  sides  is 
characteristic.  The  Springfield  area,  in  fact,  resembles,  in  appearance 
and  conditions  of  life,  the  plains  region  of  eastern  Kansas  more  than  the 

*  Missouri.  Geol.  Surv.,  X,  34-35.  'Ibid.,  pp.  60-67. 


GEOGRAPHIC  REGIONS  67 

Central  Plateau  of  the  Ozarks.  It  is,  however,  the  western  border  of 
the  Ozarks,  historically  as  well  as  physiographically.  Springfield  insists 
upon  the  title  of  ''Queen  City  of  the  Ozarks." 

The  upland  was  covered  originally  by  prairie  grasses,  trees  being 
confined  then  as  now  to  the  valleys. 

In  contrast  to  the  two  other  border  regions,  the  Springfield  Plain  is 
well  supplied  with  large  springs  of  constant  flow. 

In  mineral  resources  this  subdivision  is  first  in  importance.  It  has 
long  been  the  world's  leading  producer  of  zinc  ore  and  tripoli,  has 
yielded  large  quantities  of  lead,  and  has  the  most  important  quarrying 
industry  of  the  state.  Carthage  "marble"  is  the  most  widely  used 
building  stone  in  Missouri. 

In  pioneer  days  the  Springfield  Plain  was  peculiarly  isolated  because 
of  its  distance  from  large  streams  and  of  the  difficult  country  situated 
to  the  east  of  it.  Its  history  is  therefore  much  more  meager  than  that 
of  the  other  border  sections. 

ST.    FRANCOIS   KNOB   AND   BASIN   REGION 

Geologically  and  physiographically  the  St.  Francois  region  is  the 
center  of  the  Ozarks.  In  a  geographic  sense,  however,  it  has  been 
largely  a  border  region,  (i)  because  of  its  nearness  to  the  Mississippi 
and  accessibility  from  that  stream,  and  (2)  because  the  agricultural 
conditions  of  its  basins  are  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  border  regions  and 
superior  to  most  interior  sections. 

Its  topography  has  no  counterpart  in  the  Ozarks  and  perhaps  not  in 
this  country.  The  knobs  of  igneous  rocks  rise  like  irregularly  distributed 
mountain  islands  above  the  basins  formed  by  the  weak  limestones  and 
shales  (Plates  I  and  II).  The  conical  symmetry  of  the  knobs  and  their 
detached  character  are  not  duplicated  elsewhere  in  the  Ozarks,  nor  are 
the  "shut-ins."  The  relief  of  this  area  is  the  greatest  of  the  state  and 
the  topography  in  part  is  mountainous. 

Only  two  soil  types  are  represented  to  any  extent,  the  crystalline 
rock  soils  and  the  Fredericktown  group.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  two 
best  residual  soils  of  the  Ozarks;  the  other  has  almost  no  agricultural 
value.  The  one  type  is  almost  uninhabited;  on  the  other  nearly  every 
available  acre  of  land  is  farmed. 

In  known  mineral  wealth  this  region  is  second  only  to  the  Spring- 
field Plain.  In  variety  it  is  first.  For  many  years  it  has  been  the  most 
important  producer  of  lead  in  America  and  yields  at  present  (under 
normal  conditions)  half  the  output  of  the  country.     It  embraces  the 


68  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

once  famous  iron  mines  of  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob,  yields  much 
of  the  baryte  and  all  of  the  granite  of  the  state,  and  from  time  to  time 
has  produced  silver,  copper,  and  cobalt. 

As  a  result  of  the  rehef  and  the  superimposed  drainage  this  region 
contains  many  fine  power  sites.  Most  of  the  streams  are  small,  but  they 
make  up  for  lack  of  volume  by  amount  of  fall. 

The  region  is  inclosed  completely  by  ridges  of  Gasconade  and  Potosi 
Hmestone.  It  includes  four  major  basins,  Fredericktown,  Farmington, 
Mineral  Point-Potosi,  and  Richwoods.  Some  of  the  minor  basins  are 
Caledonia  and  Belgrade  in  Washington  County,  Belle  view  and  Arcadia 
valleys  in  Iron,  and  Patterson  and  Lodi  in  Wayne  County,  all  of  them 
prosperous  farming  communities  surrounded  by  a  wilderness  of  igneous 
knobs  and  flint  ridges. 

COURTOIS  HILLS 

This  is  roughly  the  major  area  of  outcrop  of  the  Gasconade-Potosi 
limestones  and  therefore  the  most  hilly  as  well  as  the  poorest  part  of  the 
Missouri  Ozarks.  The  hills  are  steep-sided,  chert-covered  ridges, 
monotonous  in  their  similarity.  The  narrow  ridges  are  almost  invari- 
ably forested,  mostly  with  oak.  Timber  is  the  principal  resource  of  the 
region,  both  agricultural  and  mineral  wealth  being  small.  The  popula- 
tion is  for  the  most  part  confined  to  the  valleys.  The  best  farming  con- 
ditions are  at  the  south  where  the  Castor,  St.  Francois,  Black,  and 
Current  rivers  have  developed  wide  bottoms,  and  have  worn  the  flint 
hills  to  fairly  gentle  slopes.  In  the  valleys  springs  of  excellent  quality 
are  extraordinarily  numerous. 

Because  it  is  the  largest  and  most  compact  body  of  intricately  and 
deeply  dissected  country,  this  region  is  the  most  isolated  of  the  Ozark 
Highland.  Roads  follow  the  ridges  and  are  both  devious  and  difficult. 
In  most  cases  the  distance  by  road  at  least  doubles  the  airline  distance 
between  two  points. 

Wanting  a  popular  name,  this  region  is  here  called  the  Courtois  Hills, 
because  Courtois  Creek,  in  Crawford  County,  was  one  of  its  earliest 
-valleys  to  be  settled  and  because  along  its  course  the  features  of  this 
aregion  are  developed  typically. 

OSAGE-GASCONADE  HILLS 

This  region  embraces  the  dissected  country  of  the  Gasconade  and 
Osage  valleys,  and  the  intervening  basins  of  the  upper  Maries,  Tavern, 
tthe  Auglaize,  and  the  lower  Niangua  rivers.  Because  of  the  crowded 
-drainage  lines  and  the  extensive  outcrops  of  the  Gasconade  hmestone,  the 


GEOGRAPHIC  REGIONS  69 

Ozark  Highland  in  this  section  forms  a  hill  country  nearly  as  rugged  and 
intricate  as  in  the  Courtois  region  and  very  similar  to  it  (Plate  XIV  a). 
The  contrast  in  topography  between  it  and  the  Missouri  River  Border  is 
shown  by  Fig.  20.  The  main  watersheds,  especially  the  one  between  the 
Gasconade  and  Osage,  form  a  narrow  but  fairly  level  upland,  on  which 
there  are  some  important  farm  areas,  as  at  Vienna,  Dixon,  and  Richland. 
The  other  types  of  land  which  are  desirable  for  agriculture  are:  (i)  the 
Iberia  bench  lands,  mostly  confined  to  this  region,  (2)  the  "slip-off" 
slopes  of  the  incised  meanders,  developed  perhaps  most  extensively  in 
this  area,  and  (3)  bottom  lands,  numerous  and  large  because  of  the 
number  and  size  of  the  streams. 

Springs  and  solution  features,  such  as  caves,  sinks,  and  natural 
bridges,  are  exceedingly  numerous,  and  have  received  some  notoriety 
through  the  park  at  Hahatonka. 

Mineral  resources  are  small.  Lead  and  iron  have  been  produced  in 
a  small  way. 

WHITE   RIVER  HILLS 

The  upper  White  River  country  lies  at  and  beyond  the  margin  of 
the  BurUngton  limestone,  here  forming  the  highest  escarpment  of  the 
state.  This  escarpment  has  been  dissected  by  the  Wliite  River  and  its 
tributaries  into  a  series  of  long,  lobate  ridges.  In  a  number  of  cases 
outliers  from  one  to  a  dozen  miles  across  have  become  detached  from  the 
main  body  of  the  limestone  and  form  high  buttes,  which  are  a  con- 
spicuous feature  in  almost  every  long  vista.  In  fact,  on  these  buttes 
panoramic  views  are  disclosed  that  are  unrivaled  in  extent  in  the  state. 
The  next  highest  level  is  formed  by  non-cherty  limestone,  which  has 
formed  innumerable  glades.  The  bench  lands  which  line  the  White 
and  its  larger  tributaries  represent  a  third  level.  From  50  to  75  feet 
below  the  bench  lands  are  the  present  valley  floors.  The  amount  of 
incision  of  drainage  lines  is  not  equaled  even  in  the  Osage-Gasconade 
region,  nor  does  any  other  section  present  such  a  steplike  topography. 
The  relief  of  the  area  is  nearly  as  great  as  in  the  St.  Francois  region,  and 
portions  of  it  are  as  rugged  as  the  Courtois  and  Osage-Gasconade  hills. 
The  topography  combines,  however,  more  varied  elements  than  in  the 
latter  hill  belts,  and  the  scenery  accordingly  is  more  attractive.  Here 
are  forested  slopes,  gleaming  limestone  cliffs,  and  parklike  cedar  glades, 
overtopped  by  level-crested  buttes  and  interrupted  at  lower  levels  by 
the  horizontal  lines  of  well-farmed  benches  and  bottom  lands  (Plates 
VII  and  VIII).  The  result  is  a  scene  which  combines  magnificence 
and  charm  to  a  rare  degree. 


70  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Because  of  the  slopes  and  the  great  extent  of  the  non-cherty  Berry- 
ville  soils,  soil  erosion  is  a  most  serious  problem  in  this  section.  Where  it 
can  be  checked  farm  conditions  are  fair.  Where  it  has  not  been,  one 
finds  abandoned  farms  (Plate  VI  b).  The  bench  lands  are  the  best 
soils  of  the  region.  Neither  Berryville  soils  nor  bench  lands  are  found 
to  any  notable  extent  outside  of  this  area.  ' 

The  region  has  probably  the  largest  caves'  of  the  state.  Water- 
power  opportunities  are  excellent. 

CENTRAL  PLATEAU 

The  Central  Plateau  is  surrounded  on  all  sides  except  on  parts  of  its 
western  boundary  by  hill  regions.  Plate  XIV  6  is  a  view  of  its  most  ele- 
vated portion,  at  Cedar  Gap.  Excepting  the  Springfield  Plain,  it  is  the 
only  part  of  the  Ozark  Plateau  which  has  not  been  dissected  extensively. 
Streams  flowing  across  the  region  have  divided  it  into  a  large  number  of 
s.mall  plateaus  or  prairies  (Plate  VI  a).  The  farms  are  mostly  on  the 
upland  and  provide  a  livelihood  for  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  popula- 
tion. The  cherty  Howell  soil  predominates  (Plate  IX),  but  there  are  also 
large  areas  of  Lebanon  clay  and  Dent  sandy  soil.  Most  of  the  soil 
is  of  moderate  productiveness.  With  the  exception  of  the  southern  part 
the  region  was  not  timbered  at  the  time  of  settlement. 

Although  travel  across  the  region  is  easy,  communication  with  the 
outside  world  is  difiicult  because  of  the  hill  belts  which  lie  between  it 
and  the  Missouri,  Mississippi,  and  Arkansas  valleys.  This  isolation  has 
retarded  development  and  still  operates  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
region. 


PART  II 
SETTLEMENT  AND  DEVELOPMENT 


CHAPTER  VII 

FRENCH  COLONIZATION 

BEGINNINGS   OF   SETTLEMENT 

For  more  than  a  century  the  French  were  sole  masters  of  this  region. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  French  settlements  had 
been  founded  on  the  lower  St.  Lawrence.  From  this  base,  aided  by  the 
water  routes  of  the  St.  Lawrence  Basin  and  stimulated  by  the  large 
profits  of  the  fur  trade,  they  advanced  to  the  western  Great  Lakes  in 
less  than  half  a  century.  From  the  lakes  it  was  a  short  and  easy  step 
by  portages  to  the  Mississippi  Basin,  hardly  interrupting  the  continuity 
of  water  transportation  for  their  canoes.  Once  the  Mississippi  was 
reached  it  was  inevitable  that  boats  soon  would  penetrate  to  its  mouth. 
Thus  the  Ozarks,  located  on  this  great  pioneer  highway  between  eastern 
Canada  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  became  the  scene  of  French  enterprise 
before  France  had  been  established  in  the  New  World  a  century.  On 
the  east  English  colonists  at  this  time  had  barely  passed  the  Fall  line  of 
the  Atlantic  rivers,  hardly  a  hundred  miles  from  the  open  sea.  Their 
way  to  the  interior  was  not  pointed  out  by  waterways,  as  on  the  north. 
Shortly  they  confronted  the  Appalachian  barrier,  which  was  not  passed 
by  any  large  number  of  colonists  until  nearly  a  century  after  French 
settlement  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

Since  the  French  came  into  the  Mississippi  Valley  first  from  the  north, 
the  earliest  settlements  were  of  Canadian  stock,  and  in  the  middle  valley 
this  stock  remained  dominant  throughout  the  French  period.'  In 
Canada  the  increase  of  French  population  was  rather  rapid.  Climate 
and  soil  limited  the  agricultural  opportunities  of  the  St.  Lawrence  settle- 
ments. Part  of  the  surplus  population  drifted  west  from  time  to  time 
in  quest  of  furs,  milder  climate,  and  better  land,  and  thus  found  its  way 
to  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  countries.*  After  the  French  secured  a  foot- 
hold near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  the  region  came  into  contact  with 
Lower  Louisiana,  and  therefore  Creole  blood  also  was  introduced  into 
the  settlements  of  the  middle  Mississippi.  Commercial  relations  were 
most  largely  by  the  Mississippi  River  with  New  Orleans,  and  found  their 

'  Du  Pratz,  History  of  Louisiana  (London,  1763),  I,  105-6.     Alvord,  in  Illinois 

Historical  Collections,  II,  xvii;    Memoirs  of  Dumont  in  Hist.  Colls,  of  Louisiana,  V,  37. 

'  Monette,  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  I,  292.  * 

73 


74         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

expression  in  the  political  union  of  the  Mississippi  Basin,  the  middle 
Mississippi  and  Illinois  country  forming  the  District  of  Upper  Louisiana, 

Following  the  voyage  of  Marquette  and  Joliet  in  1673,  numerous 
exploring  expeditions  descended  the  Mississippi  from  the  Great  Lakes 
in  quick  succession  and  accumulated  favorable  information  concerning 
its  valley.  This  knowledge  was  disseminated  rapidly  and  soon  resulted 
in  exploitation  and  settlement. 

The  first  permanent  settlements  between  the  mouths  of  the  Missouri 
and  Ohio  rivers  were  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  These  settlements  were 
convenient  to  all  the  important  routes  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
Mississippi  River.  They  lay  at  the  convergence  of  the  routes  using 
the  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  and  Ohio  rivers.  As  in  Canada  and  Lower 
Louisiana  they  were  riparian  settlements  or  cotes.  They  lay  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  the  great  highway  for  the  furs  of  the  western 
mountains  and  plains.  They  possessed  an  abundance  of  fertile  river 
bottoms  and  were  convenient  to  the  lead  mines  of  the  St.  Francois 
region.  They  were  also  in  close  proximity  to  Indian  villages.  All 
things  considered  the  French  could  not  have  selected  a  better  interior 
site  than  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  between  St.  Louis  and  Cairo.  It 
is  possible  that  the  first  French  establishment  in  this  section  was  a  mis- 
sion post  on  the  river  "des  Peres,"  now  St.  Louis. ^  This  place  was  soon 
abandoned  because  of  its  unhealthiness.  The  first  settlement  of  which 
there  is  certain  knowledge  was  Kaskaskia  on  the  Illinois  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  across  from  the  site  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  founded  probably  in 

1699  as  a  mission  to  the  village  of  the  Kaskaskia  Indians.^  Cahokia  and 
Fort  Chartres  were  founded  soon  after,  also  on  the  Illinois  side.  The 
settlement  was  in  the  usual  order,  missionary  first,  then  fur  trader,  soldier, 
and  farmer.  "Habitants"  who  became  established  gradually  engaged 
in  a  combination  of  fur  trade,  boating,  and  desultory  agriculture.^ 
By  1740  they  were  supplying  New  Orleans  with  furs  and  skins,  as  well 
as  with  wheat  and  hams.'' 

Apparently  by  reason  of  their  roaming  habits  and  association  with  the 
Indians  the  French  of  the  Illinois  side  became  acquainted  at  an  early 
date  with  the  country  west  of  the  river  and  with  its  mineral  wealth.     In 

1700  Father  Gravier  mentioned  a  rich  lead  mine  on  the  river  "Miaria- 

'  Journal  of  M.  Austin,  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  538. 
^  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  XXVII,  note  on  p.  29. 

3  A  good  account  of  these  settlements  is  to  be  found  in  Alvord's  introduction  to 
Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  II. 

*  Memoirs  of  Duraont  in  Hist.  Colls,  of  Louisiana,  V,  37. 


FkEXCII  COLONIZATION  75 

migoua"  (Meramec).     His  statement  that  the  "ore  from  this  mine  yields 
3  fourths  metal"  indicates  mining  previous  to  this  time.'     In   1702 
d'Iberville  asked  for  the  exciusive  privilege  of  working  the  mines  on  the 
Meramec.^    The  wording  of  this  petition  implies  that  lead  had  been 
mined  there  before  that  date.     The  salt  springs  on  Saline  Creek,  below 
Ste.  Genevieve,  attracted  attention  as  early  as  1687,  when  they  were 
pointed  out  to  Joutel  by  Indians.^         In  1700  Penicaut  described  the 
"river  of  the  Saline"  in  Ste.  Genevieve  County."*    It  is  stated  that  even 
then  its  salt  licks  were  resorted  to  by  the  French  and  Indians.^    The 
use  of  the  salt  springs  and  the  presence  of  lead  mines  is  confirmed  by 
Father  Marest,  of  Kaskaskia,  in  1712.^    Lead  ore  and  salt  springs  and  to 
some  extent  furs  were  the  first  resources  of  the  Missouri  region  of  which 
the  French  made  use.     From  temporary  visits  in  quest  of  these  com- 
modities to  permanent  habitation  was  an  easy  transition,  the  date  of 
which,  however,  is  as   uncertain  as   that  of   the   discovery  of   these 
resources.     In    1704   Governor   Bienville   reported   that   French   were 
settled  west  of  the  river."    Penicaut,  in  his  journal  of  1700,  says  that 
"presently"  there  was  a  settlement  on  the  Missouri  side.*    From  these 
obscure  notes  the  conclusion  may  be  drawn  that  Frenchmen  were  estab- 
lished on  the  Missouri  side,  probably  only  intermittently,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  incentive  being  primarily  mineral  wealth. 
The  great  stores  of  silver  and  gold  found  by  the  Spaftish  in  Peru  and 
Mexico,  and  the  legends  of  far  greater  treasjare  which. were  current  and 
credited  at  the  time,  inflamed  the  French  with  the  hope  that  their  colony 
in  the  New  World  might  produce  mineral  riches  comparable  to  those  of 
the  Spanish  possessions.     The  sections  previously  opened  by  France  in 
America  had  disclosed  nothing  to  encourage  such  a  hope.     Accordingly 
tales  of  mineral  wealth,  emanating  from  Upper  Louisiana,  were  seized 
upon  with  avidity,  were  carried  to  the  Gulf  settlements  and  thence  to 
France,  and  aroused  the  imagination  and  cupidity  of  speculators  and 
adventurers.     Their  desires  heightened  their  credulity  so  that  when 
finds  of  silver  were  reported  the  reports  were  accepted  without  question 

'  Jesuit  Relations,  LX\',  loi.  1  Hist.  Colls,  of  Louisiana,  I,  181. 

'  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  274.  «Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  247. 

s  Carr,  Missouri,  p.  21. 

^Jesuit  Relations  (Thwaites),  LXVI,  227,  291,  293.  The  note  by  Thwaites, 
referring  these  to  a  number  of  Illinois  counties,  is  in  error.  Marest  says  "in  the 
neighborhood."  The  Ste.  Genevieve  salines  are  nearly  across  from  Kaskaskia,  and 
but  a  few  miles  removed. 

'  Houck,  op.  cit.,  I,  243.  »  Carr,  lac.  cit. 


76         GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

and  created  great  enthusiasm.^  As  a  result  of  such  tales  the  Company 
of  the  West,  which  had  come  into  control  of  Louisiana  in  171 7,  dispatched 
several  expeditions  to  explore  the  region  of  the  Ozarks  and  to  work  its 
ores,  especially  of  silver,  "In  1719  the  Sieur  de  Lochon,  sent  by  the 
Company  of  the  West  in  the  capacity  of  a  smelter,  having  dug  in  a  spot 
which  had  been  pointed  out  to  him  [on  the  Meramec  River],  raised  quite 
a  large  quantity  of  ore."  From  this  ore  he  attempted  to  produce  silver 
and  finally  departed  with  a  few  ounces,  which  it  is  suspected  were  intro- 
duced fraudulently,  and  with  forty  pounds  of  lead,  as  the  result  of  mining 
two  or  three  thousand  pounds  of  ore.  His  successor  disregarded  the 
lead  and  attempted  to  smelt  silver  only.^  This  nonexistent  silver  mine 
became  a  tradition  which  would  not  down.  It  appears  in  Dumont's 
Memoirs,^  and  in  the  account  of  Du  Pratz,^  both  belonging  to  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Stoddard  revived  it  in  1812,5  and  residents 
to  this  day  insist  that  the  region  contains  lost  silver  mines.  This 
persistent  fiction  perpetuated  the  hope  of  finding*  precious  metals  and 
stimulated  exploration  and  development. 

The  next  step  in  the  opening  of  the  region  was  the  beginning  of 
organized  mining  by  the  Sieur  Renault,  who  "left  France  in  the  year 
1 7 19,  with  two  hundred  artificers  and  miners,  provided  with  tools,  and 

whatever  else  was  necessary In  his  passage  he  touched  at  the 

island  of  St.  Domingo,  and  purchased  five  hundred  slaves  for  working 

the  mines ''^    This  imposing  expedition  was  organized  expressly 

to  try  out  the  mineral  wealth  of  southeastern  Missouri.  The  first 
place  at  which  operations  were  undertaken  was  at  the  old  workings  on 
the  Meramec,  where  he  found,  in  1720,  rich  deposits  of  lead."  The  site, 
at  the  junction  of  the  Big  and  Meramec  rivers,  was  granted  to  Renault 
in  1723  and  constitutes  the  earliest  land  grant  in  Upper  Louisiana  of 
which  there  is  any  record.^  The  next  discovery  of  note  was  made  in 
1723  by  Renault's  agent.  La  Motte,  at  the  place  which  still  bears  the 
latter's  name.  This  mine  was  worked  rather  extensively  for  a  period, 
and  from  1738  to  1740  furnished  almost  all  the  lead  exported  from  the 
region.9  The  mines  at  Fourche  a  Renault  were  opened  in  1724-25  by 
his  company  of  miners,  and  the  so-called  "Old  Mines"  are  said  to  date 

'  Carr,  op.  cit.,  p.  23;  Monette,  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  I,  207. 

'  Charlevoix, /oHrwa^  (1744),  VI,  137-38.     s  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  216. 

3  7//^/.  Colls,  of  Louisiana,  V,  37.  «  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines, -p.  is- 

*  Houck,  op.  cit.,  I,  275.  7  Charlevoix,  op.  cit.,  p.  139. 

*  Casselberry,  in  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  I,  190;   Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  281. 
9  Austin,  Atner.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  208. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  77 

from  the  following  year.'  A  traveler  of  a  century  ago  wrote:  "Other 
mines  of  lead  were  also  found,  but  their  distinctive  appellations  have 
not  survived;  and  a  proof  to  the  diligence 'with  which  Renault  prose- 
cuted [his]  object,  is  furnished  by  the  number  and  extent  of  the  old 
diggings  which  are  now  found  in  various  parts.  These  diggings  are 
scattered  over  the  whole  mine  country,  and  hardly  a  season  passes,  in 
which  some  antique  works,  overgrown  with  brush  and  trees,  are  not 
found. "^  In  the  \'ears  spent  in  exploration  and  mining  the  party  headed 
by  Renault  achieved  a  number  of  important  results:  (i)  The  great  extent 
of  the  shallow  deposits  of  lead  in  this  section  was  determined,  and  at 
least  one  mining  camp.  Mine  La  Motte,  which  is  still  an  active  producer, 
was  located.  (2)  The  systematic  production  of  lead  was  begun,  of 
which  "there  is  reason  to  conclude,  that  very  great  quantities  were 
made."^  (3)  Lead  was  conveyed  from  the  interior  to  the  river  on  pack 
horses  and  thence  by  boat  to  New  Orleans.  From  the  latter  point  most 
of  it  was  exported  to  France.-*  Commercial  relations  with  the  Gulf  and 
with  France  were  thus  established  through  the  lead  trade.  (4)  The 
expedition  resulted  in  the  first  notable  immigration  into  the  region  since 
the  founding  of  Kaskaskia.  A  number  of  families,  following  Renault's 
party,  came  to  the  neighborhood  of  Kaskaskia  from  the  Gulf  and  there 
occupied  lands. ^  Although  most  of  the  miners  left  Missouri  with 
Renault,  it  is  almost  certain  that  a  number  remained  in  the  Missouri 
region.  In  1803  the  "Old  Mine"  claim  of  Washington  County  was 
granted  under  that  name  to  31  concessionaires,  who  were  established  on 
it.^  Even  at  that  time  this  tract  was  considered  ancient.  It  is  likely 
that  some  of  its  concessionaires  were  descendants  of  Renault's  miners, 
who  first  worked  that  property  in  1725-26.  A  suggestion  to  this  effect 
is  contained  in  an  entry  of  the  year  1748  in  the  parish  records  of  Fort 
Chartres,  which  refers  to  the  "habitans  du  village  des  mines."^ 
(5)  The  mining  of  lead  by  this  party  probably  introduced  slavery  into 
Upper  Louisiana. 

SETTLEMENT   OF   STE.    GENEVIEVE   AND   ADJ.\CENT   REGION 

As  a  result  of  the  gradual  development  of  mining  interests,  a  settle- 
ment was  formed  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  to  serve  as  a 

'  Ibid.,  p.  207.  ^INd. 

'  Sghoolcraft,  op.  n't.,  p.  16.  *Ibid. 

5  Carr,  Missattri,  p.  24. 

'  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  No.  jojg. 
'  Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  378. 


78  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

shipping-point  for  the  mines.  The  site  chosen  was  on  the  Mississippi 
flood  plain,  in  the  so-called  Big  Field,  below  the  present  site  of  Ste. 
Genevieve  and  across  the  civer  from  Kaskaskia/  Here  the  original 
village  of  Ste.  Genevieve  was  located.  The  date  of  earliest  settlement 
is  uncertain  but  probably  is  before  1732,  as  a  well  stone  with  that  date 
carved  upon  it  has  been  found  in  the  Big  Field.^  Stirling,  writing  in 
1765,  stated  that  the  settlement  was  about  thirty  years  old.^  Pittman, 
writing  about  1770,  places  the  date  at  about  1742.''  This  author  sums 
up  the  advantages  of  the  site  in  these  words:  "The  situation  of  the  village 

is  very  convenient,  being  within  one  league  of  the  salt  spring 

A  lead  mine,  which  suppHes  the  whole  country  with  shot,  is  about  fifteen 
leagues'  distance.  The  communication  of  this  village  with  Cascasquias 
is  very  short  and  easy,  it  being  only  to  cross  the  Mississippi,  which  is 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  broad  at  this  place,  and  then  there  is  a 
portage,  two  miles  distance,  to  Cascasquias."  At  the  outset  Ste. 
Genevieve  was  merely  a  dependency  of  Kaskaskia,  placed  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river  because  of  the  salt  and  lead  on  the  Missouri  side. 
To  these  advantages  are  to  be  added  fertile  alluvial  lands,  abundant 
timber  and  stone,  position  on  the  river  bank,  and  easy  access  to  the 
interior  because  of  the  absence  of  river  bluffs. 

Before  1763  the  settlement  increased  very  little.  Few  grants  of 
land  were  made  on  the  western  bank,  and  these  were  "mostly  designed 
to  embrace  mineral  riches.  "^  The  farming  population  remained  for  the 
most  part  on  the  older,  Illinois  side,  where  the  bottom  lands  were  suffi- 
ciently extensive  for  the  small  needs  of  the  settlement.^  Only  one  grant 
on  the  west  side  of  the  river  is  known  certainly  to  have  been  made  for 
purposes  of  cultivation  in  this  period. ^ 

After  1763  a  number  of  causes  aided  the  growth  of  the  settlement. 
In  that  year  occurred  the  cession  of  the  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River  to  Protestant  England.  Many  of  the  French  families  left  the 
English  district  in  the  succeeding  years  to  settle  under  a  Catholic  govern- 
ment, administered  by  their  countrymen.  These  families  notably 
increased  the  settlements  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  later  of  St.  Louis. 
In  October,  1765,  Stirling  estimated  the  population  of  Ste.  Genevieve 

'  Watrin,  in  Illinms  Hist.  Colls.,  X,  77.  *  Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  338. 

3  Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  X,  210. 

"  Pittman,  European  Settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  p.  50. 

5  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  224. 

^  Ibid.  7  Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  337. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  79 

at  twenty-five  families,  and  in  December  at  fifty.'  In  1766  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Kaskaskia  and  Fort  Chartres  were  reported  as  having  gone 
largely  to  the  west  bank  of  the  river.^  Among  those  who  came  to  Ste. 
Genevieve  was  Francois  Valle,  long  the  wealthiest  man  in  Upper  Louisi- 
ana, owner  in  1770  of  one  hundred  slaves.^  At  about  the  same  time 
Mine  a  Breton  (Potosi)  and  Mine  a  Robina  (two  miles  southeast  of 
Potosi)  were  discovered  and  increased  mining  activities  resulted.'' 
Mine  a  Gerbore  (Flat  River  district)^  had  been  discovered  at  a  somewhat 
earlier  date.*  By  1769  the  population  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  surround- 
ings was  estimated  at  more  than  600.^  In  1772  the  district  possessed 
691  inhabitants,  of  whom  287  were  slaves.  Its  population  was  about 
one-seventh  greater  than  that  of  the  St.  Louis  district  at  the  time.* 

The  American  Revolution  caused  numerous  French  to  emigrate 
from  the  Illinois  country.  They  were  pressed  into  unwilling  service 
against  the  "  Bostoneses"  by  the  British.'  Clark's  capture  of  Kaskaskia 
brought  the  Revolution  to  their  midst.'"  At  the  same  time  the  Spanish 
government  was  offering  food,  stock,  and  implements  to  those  who 
would  come  to  Upper  Louisiana,"  and  thus  a  second  transfer  to  the  right 
bank  took  place. 

In  1780  the  river  bank  on  which  Ste.  Genevieve  was  built  began  to 
cave  rapidly,  and  in  1784  a  few  families  moved  to  the  present  site  of  the 
city,  on  the  upland  adjoining  the  river  bottoms."  In  1785  the  official 
account  states:  "The  waters  have  risen  so  greatly  from  their  source 
that  they  have  entirely  submerged  the  village.  All  its  inhabitants  hav- 
ing been  obliged  to  retire  with  great  haste  to  the  mountains  which  are 
one  league  away  from  the  said  village.  They  abandoned  their  houses 
which  were  inundated,  and  their  furniture  and  other  possessions  which 
they  had  in  them."'^    This  year  is  remembered  as  the  "year  of  the  great 

'Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  XI,  108,  125. 

»  Gordon,  Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  XI,  298. 

J  Don  Piedro  Piernas,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  I,  70;   Pittraan,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 

*  Austin,  op.  cit.,  p.  208.  s  Missouri  Gcol.  Surv.,  VII,  667. 

'  Austin,  ibid.  i  Piernas,  loc.  cit. 

'  Piernas,  op.  cit.,  p.  53. 

»  Cruzat,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Rigime,  I,  154. 

'0  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  356. 

"  Galvez,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Rigime,  I,  156. 

"  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  1,  350-51. 

'J  Miro,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Rigime,  I,  235. 


?o  GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

waters."  The  destruction  of  the  old  village  proceeded  rapidly;  many 
of  the  houses  being  "washed  into  the  River  by  the  falling  of  the  Bank, 
it  was  thought  advisable  to  remove  the  Town  to  the  hights."'  By 
1 791  the  old  village  was  deserted.^  The  new  site  possessed  not  only 
security  from  flood  and  erosion,  but  it  also  had  a  good  water  supply 
and  was  healthful,  the  old  site  having  been  deficient  in  all  these  respects.^ 
Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and  Fort  Chartres,  all  situated  on  the  flood  plain, 
also  were  flooded  and  in  part  destroyed  in  1785,  "I'annee  des  grandes 
eaux,"  and  again  in  later  years.  The  opportunities  for  relocating  these 
villages  were  not  so  favorable  as  in  the  case  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  As  a 
result  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  side  sought  safety  in  New 
Ste.  Genevieve.'' 

In  1787  the  ordinance  was  passed  which  prohibited  slavery  and  invol- 
untary servitude  in  the  Northwest  Territory.  Slave-owners  were  made 
welcome  by  the  authorities  at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  St.  Louis. ^  A  number 
of  prominent  famiUes  effected  their  removal  at  this  period.* 

For  these  various  reasons,  which  are  connected  in  the  main  with  the 
formation  of  an  international  boundary  along  the  Mississippi  River, 
a  large  part  of  the  French  population  of  the  American  Bottoms  of  Illinois 
gradually  was  transferred  to  the  right  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  In  the 
old  graveyard  at  Ste.  Genevieve  the  most  ancient  inscriptions  usually 
record  the  birth  of  the  deceased  at  Kaskaskia,  or  at  one  of  the  other 
Illinois  settlements. 

New  Bourbon  was  founded  in  1794,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  down  the 
river  from  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  chief  element  in  the  selection  of  the 
site  seems  to  have  been  the  desire  of  the  colonists  to  be  near  an  established 
French  village.  New  Bourbon  was  a  small  settlement  of  French  Royal- 
ists, refugees  from  the  French  Revolution,  who  came  to  the  United 
States,  fell  into  the  hands  of  promoters  of  the  Scioto  Company,  were 
settled  at  Gallipolis,  Ohio,  and  there  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness  left 
to  a  miserable  existence.  Their  lands  belonged  to  another  company.^ 
Their  location  caused  them  to  be  subject  to  fevers.*     By  their  training 

'  Journal  of  Moses  Austin,  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  541. 

'  Houck,  Hisl.  of  Missouri,  I,  351. 

3  Fragments  of  Colonel  Aug.  Chouteau's  Narrative  of  the  Settlement  of  St.  Louis,  p.  i. 

*  Souvenir  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 

s  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  225. 

'  See,  for  instance,  the  Beauvais  and  Janis  families  in  Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  III. 

''Mississippi  Valley  Hist.  Rev.,  II,  123. 

*  Ellicott,  Journal  (1796),  p.  13. 


FREXCII  COLONIZATION  Si 

these  people  were  unfitted  for  pioneer  life.  Finally  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment aided  them  to  remove  to  Upper  Louisiana,  where  they  could  be  in 
contact  with  their  more  experienced  French-Canadian  countrymen  of 
Ste.  Genevieve.  It  was  in  large  measure  an  attempt  to  ameliorate  the 
hardships  of  frontier  life.*  The  specific  purpose  for  which  the  Spanish 
government  secured  these  settlers  was  that  they  might  raise  grain  for 
the  plantations  on  the  lower  Mississippi,  the  food  exported  from  the 
upper  region  at  the  time  being  insuffi^cient  to  supply  the  needs  of  the 
sugar  and  cotton  planters  on  the  lower  river  and  the  Gulf.'  The  census 
of  1794  reports  153  people  settled  at  New  Bourbon;  at  the  same  time 
Ste.  Genevieve  had  849  inhabitants. ^  In  1797  New  Bourbon,  including 
plantations  on  Saline  Creek,  numbered  461  people.*  Because  of  its 
dependent  location  the  settlement  was  gradually  absorbed  into  Ste. 
Genevieve. 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  near  the  end  of  the  French 
period,  the  French  population  of  the  Ste.  Genevieve  district  lived  in 
these  two  villages  and  in  scattered  and  more  or  less  temporary  groups 
as  far  west  as  Crawford  County  and  as  far  south  as  Madison  County. 
These  outlying  settlements  were  composed  largely  of  miners,  as  at  Mine  a 
Breton,  Old  Mines,  Mine  La  Motte,  and  St.  Michaels  (Fredericktown 
(Fig.  25,  p.  104). 5  In  spite  of  its  extent  the  district  usually  was  con- 
sidered one  settlement.  It  was  relatively  isolated  from  the  settlements 
north  and  south;  its  inhabitants  had  intermarried  extensively;**  and 
there  was  a  high  degree  of  economic  interdependence. 

OCCUPATIONS   IN   THE   STE.    GENEVIEVE   DISTRICT 

Salt  making. — The  making  of  salt,  the  earliest  authenticated  occupa- 
tion of  the  region,  was  important  for  more  than  a  century.  It  served 
not  only  for  the  needs  of  this  district,  but  was  a  highly  profitable  article 
of  commerce.  Salt  was  made  by  the  evaporation  of  weak  brine  from 
springs  on  Saline  Creek  below  Ste.  Genevieve,  extending  for  a  distance  of 
about  two  miles  from  its  mouth. ^  In  1750  they  were  said  to  supply 
''all  the  salt  consumed  in  the  surrounding  country,  and  in  many  posts 
which  are  dependencies  of  Canada."*    As  early  as  1769  there  were  four 

'  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  I,  373-409.        J  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  I,  326. 
'  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  331.  *  Ibid.,  II,  248. 

s  Austin,  in  Annr.  Slate  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  209.  ^ 

'  Trudeau,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Rigime,  II,  248. 
7  Shumard,  Repts.  Ceol.  Surv.  of  Missouri  (1855-71),  pp.  302-3. 
'Vivier,  in  Jesuit  Relations,  LXIX,  221. 


82  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

or  five  houses  on  this  creek,  and  the  amount  of  salt  made  was  sufficient 
for  the  settlements  on  both  sides  of  the  river/  At  this  time  Pittman 
wrote:  "The  salt  spring  ....  is  for  the  general  use  of  the  French  sub- 
jects, and  several  persons  belonging  to  this  village  have  works  here,  and 
make  great  quantities  of  salt  for  the  supply  of  the  Indians,  hunters,  and 
the  other  settlements."^  In  1778  Hutchins  found  a  hamlet  here,  where 
"all  the  salt  is  made,  which  is  used  in  the  Illinois  country. "^  In  1797 
Moses  Austin  reported:  "Much  Salt  is  now  made  and  when  the  Works 
are  Extended  may  furnish  all  the  Upper  Settlements  on  the  Missisipi."'' 
The  census  of  1799  lists  965  bushels,  worth  $1 .50  per  bushel.s  In  1807 
the  works  were  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Their  product  commanded 
a  high  price  and  was  shipped  extensively,  as  few  salt  springs  were  then 
known  in  the  upper  settlements  and  the  cost  of  shipping  from  New 
York  was  prohibitive.  They  were  said  to  "supply  the  whole  upper 
country  with  salt  at  the  rate  of  two  dollars  a  bushel.  Considerable 
quantities  are  also  sent  up  the  Cumberland  river  into  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  where  it  frequently  commands  four  and  five  dollars  a  bushel. 
These  works  ....  at  present  have  forty-six  kettles,  containing  about 
twenty-five  gallons  each,  which  produce  about  fifteen  thousand  bushels 
annually."^  In  181 2  the  salines  still  supplied  a  large  portion  of  the 
population  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  and  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  salt  was  carried  in  boats  up  the  Ohio.^  By  this  time  the 
salines  of  southern  Illinois  had  become  important  competitors.*  In 
1820  the  works  were  abandoned,'  as  the  operation  of  better  salines  in 
other  sections,  especially  on  the  Kanawha  and  in  western  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  introduction  of  steamboats,  enabled  the  cheap  importation  of 
salt  from  the  upper  Ohio  Valley  as  well  as  from  New  Orleans."  This  is 
the  first  of  numerous  instances  in  which  a  resource  of  the  Ozark  Border, 
highly  important  in  early  days  both  to  settlement  and  commerce,  after 
a  time  ceased  to  be  utilized,  not  because  of  exhaustion,  but  because  of 
improved  means  of  transportation. 

'  Piernas,  in  Houck,  op.  cit.,  I,  71-72. 

*  European  Settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  p.  50. 

3  Topographical  Description  (Burrows  ed.),  p.  no. 

*  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  536. 

s  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  App.  II. 

•^  Schultz,  Travels,  II,  73 . 

'^  Stoddard,  Sketclies  of  Louisiana,  p.  401. 

■*  Bogess,  Chicago  Historical  Society  Collections,  V,  170-71. 

■9  Shumard,  op.  cit.,  p.  303.  ">  Wetmore,  Gazetteer  (1837),  p.  171. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  83 

Lead  mining.- — Ste.  Genevieve  is  characterized  in  early  accounts  as 
the  place  of  deposit  for  the  lead  from  the  "mine  country,"  which  is  the 
district  now  embraced  in  Washington  and  St.  Francois  counties,  and 
as  the  storehouse  which  supplied  the  workers  at  the  mines/  Most  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bourbon  were  interested  in 
mining.^  '*  The  greater  part  are  more  or  less  employed  in  the  lead  mines. 
This  is  a  career  of  industry  open  to  all,  and  the  young,  in  setting  out  to 
do  something  for  themselves,  usually  make  their  first  essay  in  this 
business."^  The  almost  universal  participation  in  mining  was  due 
chiefly  to  the  following  factors:  (i)  Lead  occurred  as  residual  or 
"■float"  ore  at  or  near  the  surface.  Capital  was  therefore  not  necessary 
to  operate.  (2)  Most  of  the  lead  was  worked  without  paying  rent  or 
taxes. ••  (3)  It  was  the  export  product  of  the  region  that  was  most  in 
demand,  and  most  readily  commanded  a  cash  price.  As  a  result,  it  was 
said,  "every  farmer  may  be  a  miner,  and,  when  unoccupied  on  his 
farm,  may,  by  a  few  weeks'  labor,  almost  at  his  own  door,  dig  as  much 
mineral  as  will  furnish  his  family  with  all  imported  articles. "s  "The 
poor  class  depend  upon  the  mines  to  furnish  them  with  lead  to  purchase 
all  imported  articles."^ 

Mining  for  the  most  part  was  a  seasonal  occupation.  Stephen  Austin 
goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  not  a  single  family  had  spent  a  winter  at  the 
well-known  Mine  a  Breton  previous  to  the  advent  of  the  Americans  in 
1798.^  Especially  after  the  harvest  the  inhabitants  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
and  New  Bourbon  resorted  to  the  mines;  the  rich  sent  their  negroes, 
the  others  did  their  own  mining.  This  period  of  activity  continued 
from  August  to  December.*  Mining  was  restricted  to  autumn  in  part 
because  farm  work  at  that  season  was  light,  and  in  part  because  least 
rain  fell  then,  so  that  seepage  into  the  pits  was  least  troublesome.' 

The  presence  of  great  quantities  of  residual  ore  enabled  mining  by  the 
simplest  methods.  In  fact  the  most  important  limiting  factor  was  the 
amount  of  labor  available.  The  account,  published  by  the  United 
States  at  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  states:  "Lead  is  to  be  had  with 
ease,  and  in  such  quantities  as  to  supply  all  Europe,  if  the  population 
were  sufl[icient  to  work  the  numerous  mines  to  be  found  within  two  or 

'  Schultz,  Travels,  II,  56;  Brackenridgc,  Virws  of  Louisiana  (1811-13,  ist  ed.), 
p.  124. 

'  Austin,  op.  cil.,  p.  207.  'Austin,  op.  cit.,  p.  207. 

J  Brackenridgc,  op.  cit.,  p.  126.  i  Amcr.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  519. 

••  .Austin,  op.  cit.,  p.  208.  »  Austin,  loc.  cit. 

^Ibid.  9  Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  p.  395. 


84  GEOGILIPHV  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

three  feet  from  the  surface."'  Prospecting  was  Hmited  mostly  to  the 
areas  of  the  red  Fredericktown  soil  (Bonne  Terre  limestone)/  in  which 
surface  concentration  was  greatest.  During  the  French  period,  it  was 
stated,  "the  ore  has  not  been  sought  for  in  the  rock,  but  has  been  found 

in  the  earth  in  detached  lumps The  workmen  employed  have  no 

other  implements  than  a  pick-axe  and  a  wooden  shovel,  and  when  at 
work,  appear  as  if  employed  in  making  tan  pits^  rather  than  in  mining. 
When  they  come  to  the  rock,  or  to  such  a  depth  that  it  is  no  longer 
convenient  to  throw  the  dirt  out  of  the  hole,  they  quit,  and  perhaps 
commence  a  new  digging,  as  they  term  it,  within  a  few  feet  of  that  which 
they  have  previously  abandoned."^  Bradbury  states  that  at  Richwoods, 
in  northern  Washington  County,  there  had  been  "made  forty  trials, 
by  simply  digging  holes,  not  more  than  four  feet  deep."  In  thirty-eight 
of  these  ore  was  found. ■»  Single  pits  at  a  maximum  produced  one  to 
two  thousand  pounds;  usually,  however,  the  yield  was  about  fifty 
pounds.  Where  yields  were  good  the  entire  surface  was  dug  over,  so 
that  the  pits  and  dumps  of  a  single  "mine"  not  rarely  covered  fifty 
acres  or  more.^  Because  of  the  uncertainty  of  the  returns  each  digger 
worked  on  his  own  account.  Once  in  a  while  one  man  would  produce 
two  thousand  pounds  in  a  day.  The  miners  were  said,  however,  not 
to  "grow  rich  faster  than  their  neighbors,"  because  of  the  uncertain 
returns  and  the  extravagant  habits  which  this  life  engendered.^ 

Smelting  was  done  in  as  primitive  a  manner,  and  but  for  the  rich 
ores  and  the  low  cost  of  labor  the  industry  could  not  have  survived  its 
careless  methods.  The  way  in  which  the  French  smelted  was  by  throw- 
ing the  ore  on  heaps  of  burning  logs,  "by  which  means  about  |  of  the 
Lead  is  lost.  Notwithstanding  the  Imperfect  manner  in  which  they 
Melt  the  Ore,  Yet  at  the  Mines  of  Briton  [Breton]  last  summer  [1796] 
was  made  400  000  lb  Lead."^ 

The  smelted  lead  was  at  first  taken  to  the  river  by  pack  horses  on  a 
bridle  path.  "When  carried  by  pack-horses,  the  lead,  instead  of  being 
moulded  into  'pigs,'  was  moulded  into  the  shape  of  a  collar  and  hung 
across  the  neck  of  the  horse."  Later,  two- wheeled  carts  came  into  use 
and  their  traces  across  the  hills  to  Ste.  Genevieve  formed  the  first  wagon 
roads  in  Missouri.* 

'  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  p.  10. 

'  Bradbury,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  248;   Brackenridge,  op.  tit.,  p.  147. 

3  Bradbury,  op.  cit.,  p.  249.  *  Bradbury,  loc.  cit.;  Brackenridge,  loc.  cit. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  250.  7  Austin,  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  540. 

s  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  149.        *  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  284. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  85 

Agriculture. — The  Big  Field,  on  the  margin  of  which  both  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve and  New  Bourbon  were  located,  is  one  of  the  largest  compact  areas 
of  alluvial  land  on  the  borders  of  the  Ozarks.  This  tract  was  famed  at 
an  early  date  for  its  fertility  and  constituted  the  principal  farming  land 
of  the  villages  throughout  the  French  period.'  The  chief  handicap  to  its  ) 
cultivation  was  frecjuent  inundation.  Trudeau  claimed  that  the  inhab- 
itants "are  accustomed  to  lose  two  out  of  five  harvests  regularly,  but 
such  is  the  power  of  custom  and  of  preoccupation  that  they  always  per- 
sist in  cultivating  there. "-^  A  second  large  tract  was  the  Grand  Park 
Common  Field,  on  the  upland  southwest  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  used  chiefly 
for  grazing  land.  The  French  seem  to  have  occupied  almost  no  farm- 
land outside  of  these  two  tracts  before  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
excepting  a  few  grants  in  creek  bottoms.  On  these  detached  farms 
stock  was  kept,  and  they  were  known  as  "  vacheries."^  The  ease  of  culti- 
vation on  the  bottoms,  the  large  yields  secured,  the  ample  size  of  the  Big 
Field,  and  the  small  wants  of  the  population  resulted  in  the  almost  com- 
plete neglect  of  the  uplands  until  after  1796,  when  American  immigration  ^ 
was  first  attracted  to  the  loess  lands.  At  this  time  also  inundation  and 
erosion  by  the  Mississippi  were  troublesome,  and  to  make  good  their 
losses  in  the  Big  Field  and  escape  further  damage  a  number  of  French 
secured  upland  grants.^ 

The  common  fields  were  divided  into  lots,  distributed  among  the 
heads  of  households  according  to  station,  size  of  family,  and  other 
considerations.  In  the  Big  Field  each  lot  fronts  on  the  river  and  extends 
to  the  bluffs.  Most  of  the  lots  are  60  arpents  long.  None  are  wider  than 
3^  arpents.  The  lots  in  the  Grand  Park  Common  Field  had  the  same 
form.  In  both  cases  the  entire  field  was  surrounded  by  a  fence,  per- 
haps in  part  a  protection  against  marauding  Indians,  as  Brackenridge 
suggests,^  but  probably  chiefly  to  exclude  stock.  The  common  field, 
inclosed  by  a  fence  or  palisade,  is  a  familiar  feature  of  pioneer  settlement. 
The  curious  form  of  the  individual  holdings,  however,  a  form  which 
persists  to  this  day,  is  not  accounted  for  readily.  In  the  Big  Field  the 
river  frontage  may  have  been  of  some  value  to  owners  of  an  allotment, 

•  Stoddard,  op.  cil.,  p.  216. 

'  Houck,  Spanish  Rigime,  II,  24S;  Stoddard  {loc.  cil.)  placed  the  loss  at  one  crop 
in  ten  or  twelve  years. 

^  Brackenridge,  op.  cil.,  p.  128;  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  Nos. 
2085,  3062,  3063. 

*  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  Nos.  i88g,  2046,  2ogi,  3336. 
s  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  127. 


^ 


86         GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

but  on  the  upland  Grand  Park  accessibility  certainly  did  not  determine 
this  form.  In  neither  field  were  different  kinds  of  land  to  be  distributed 
equally  by  this  plan.  It  is  probable  that  these  attenuated  strips  were  a 
heritage  from  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  or,  less  likely,  from  the  Mississippi, 
on  which  they  were  introduced  by  the  early  French  because  of  geographic 
advantages.  The  French  followed  the  same  custom,  without  apparent 
geographic  justification  in  other  localities,  as  at  Vincennes  and  in 
Michigan. 

Isolation  necessitated  the  production  of  a  greater  variety  of  crops 
than  is  now  grown  in  the  region.  "They  cultivate  maize,  wheat,  oats, 
barley,  beans  (phaseolus),  pumpkins,  water  and  musk  melons,  and 
tobacco  and  cotton  for  their  own  use.     Apples  and  peaches  are  very 

fine They  pay  great  attention  to  gardening,  and  have  a  good 

assortment  of  roots  and  vegetables."'  The  principal  crops  were  com, 
pumpkins,  and  spring  wheat.^  Corn  was  the  leading  crop,  and  of  this 
Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Bourbon  produced,  in  1794,  30,980  minots  as 
against  20,150  in  the  other  French  settlements  of  Upper  Louisiana. 
In  1796  the  amount  was  46,190  minots  against  29,228.  This  superiority 
of  the  Ste.  Genevieve  district  was  due  in  part  to  the  large  area  of  fertile 
bottoms,  in  part  to  the  fact  that  trading  interests  were  of  smaller  rela- 
tive importance  than  on  the  Missouri  River,  in  the  St.  Louis  and  St. 
Charles  districts.  In  the  same  year  the  two  villages  produced  13,585 
minots  of  wheat  against  21,480  for  St.  Charles,  Florissant,  St.  Louis, 
Carondelet,  and  Marais  des  Liards.^ 

Stock  ranged  at  will,  securing  its  own  sustenance.     "They  have 

abundance  of  horses,  cows,  and  hogs,  all  of  which  run  at  large 

They  mow  a  little  grass  on  the  prairie,  which  they  make  into  hay,  and 
give  it  to  their  horses  and  cattle  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow : 
at  other  times  they  leave  them  to  provide  for  themselves.  The  hogs  live 
on  strawberries[  ?],  hazle  and  hickory  nuts,  acorns  and  roots,  and  must 
be  occasionally  sought  for  in  the  woods,  to  prevent  them  from  becoming 
entirely  wild."''  As  in  most  pioneer  communities  stock  raising  was  based 
largely  on  an  abundance  of  free  range. 

All  observers  were  agreed  that  even  for  pioneer  conditions  agricul- 
tural methods  were  poor  and  that  they  compared  unfavorably  with  those 
of  the  American  settlers  who  succeeded  the  French.  It  was  said  that 
after  planting  the  crop  was  "left  entirely  to  nature,  no  further  attention 

'  Bradbury,  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  260. 

*  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  127. 

3  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  I,  324-25;   II,  142-43.         ^  Bradbury,  loc.  cit. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  ^  87 

[being]  paid  to  it  until  harvest.  There  is  a  great  contrast  between  the 
lots  cultivated  by  the  Americans,  and  those  of  the  Creoles,"  the  former 
producing  a  crop  at  least  one-third  greater.'  One  of  the  foremost 
botanists  of  Europe  made  the  observation  that  the  French  were  "so 
much  attached  to  the  manners  of  their  ancestors,  and  even  to  their 
practices  in  husbandry,  that  although  they  see  their  American  neighbors, 
by  the  application  of  improved  implements  and  methods,  able  to  culti- 
vate double  the  quantity  of  ground  in  the  same  time,  nothing  can  induce 
them  to  abandon  their  old  practices."*  The  official  American  account 
of  1803  states  that,  "though  the  inhabitants  are  numerous,  they  raise 
little  for  e.xportation."^ 

The  production  of  grain  early  led  to  the  building  of  water  mills. 
We  have  the  first  record  of  milling  in  1770,  at  which  time  the  village  was 
supplying  the  traders  of  St.  Louis  with  flour."  Because  of  the  agricul- 
tural advantages  of  Ste.  Genevieve  the  authorities  encouraged  the  pro- 
duction and  milling  of  wheat  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  plantations 
on  the  lower  Mississippi.  In  1793  Baron  Carondelet  advanced  money  to 
build  mills  at  Ste.  Genevieve  and  New  Madrid  for  the  purpose  of  making 
the  whole  of  Louisiana  "independent  of  the  supply  of  American  flour 
shipped  down  the  Ohio."^  There  is  record  of  a  mill  in  1793  on  Dodge's 
Creek,^  and  of  another  about  1797  in  the  EstabHshment  region.'  The 
French  district,  however,  due  chiefly  to  its  people,  never  produced 
sufficient  flour  to  compete  seriously  with  the  American  trade  on  the 
Mississippi,  which  had  assumed  large  proportions.  Flour  was  even 
imported  at  times.*  At  the  time  of  cession  to  the  United  States  only 
$60  worth  of  flour  was  exported  in  a  year.' 

There  is  no  record  of  other  productive  activities,  excepting  the  chase 
and  the  record  of  a  number  of  grants  of  creek  bottom  land  for  the  some- 
what dubious  purpose  of  making  maple  sugar." 

Trade. — The  village  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  founded  for  commercial 
purposes,  developed  a  trade  in  Upper  Louisiana  second  only  to  that  of 
St.  Louis.     The  greatest  volume  of  trade  was  with  Lower  Louisiana; 

»  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  127.  '  Bradbury,  loc.  cit. 

3  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana,  p.  10. 

*  Pittman,  European  Settlements,  p.  50. 

s  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  331.  <"  Ibid.,  p.  365. 

'  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  No.  888. 

*  Ashe,  Travels  in  America,  pp.  289-90. 

»  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  App.  IV. 

">  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  Nos.  443,  20QJ,  2572. 


88         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

then  came  that  with  the  American  settlements  on  the  Ohio,  Cumberland, 
and  Kentucky  rivers/  With  the  growth  of  St.  Louis  the  latter  also 
became  an  important  customer.  The  export  trade  of  Ste.  Genevieve 
was  largely  in  lead  and  salt.^  Grain  and  flour  were  much  less  important 
shipments.  The  goods  imported  came  up  the  river  for  the  most  part, 
and  consisted  of  "British  goods,  French  and  West-India  produce."^  In 
earlier  years  the  stations  at  Michilimackinac  and  Detroit  are  said 
to  have  supplied  the  French  merchants  to  a  large  extent.''  In  con- 
trast with  the  situation  at  St.  Louis  and  St.  Charles,  the  fur  trade 
never  occupied  more  than  a  subordinate  position  in  the  commercial 
relations  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  village  did  not  possess  the  river  routes 
by  which  to  penetrate  to  the  far  interior,  and  the  furs  that  came  to  this 
place  were  collected  from  a  few  neighboring  Indian  tribes. ^  The  cheaper 
furs  of  Upper  Louisiana  took  the  easier  route,  down  the  Mississippi, 
whereas  the  more  costly  furs  found  their  way  largely  as  contraband 
trade  by  canoe  to  thfe  great  fur  markets  of  Canada.*  As  a  result  of  its 
commerce  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ste.  Genevieve  were  engaged 
as  boatmen. 7 

CAPE    GIRARDEAU   AND   SETTLEMENTS   ON   THE   MERAMEC 

Besides  the  Ste.  Genevieve  settlements  there  were  two  semidetached 
groups  of  French  in  the  Mississippi  River  Border,  one  at  Cape  Girardeau 
and  one  on  the  Meramec.  Cape  Girardeau  was  founded  for  military 
reasons  in  1793.  Several  hundred  Indian  famiUes  were  induced  to 
settle  on  Apple  Creek,  above  Cape  Girardeau,  under  the  supervision  of 
a  French  agent.  They  were  considered  "at  the  devotion  of  the  Spanish 
authorities"  and  were  to  be  a  safeguard  against  attack  from  the  east 
bank.*  The  location  of  Cape  Girardeau  was  suited  excellently  to  guard 
the  Ohio  Valley,  as  it  lies  on  the  first  large  tract  of  high  ground  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Mississippi  north  of  the  Ohio.  Because  of  the  swampy 
land  to  the  south  any  invasion  of  Upper  Louisiana  from  the  east  could 
not  take  place  below  Cape  Girardeau.  In  1796  General  Collot  expressed 
the  opinion  that  it  was  the  most  eligible  location  for  a  military  establish- 

'  Austin,  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  541;  Schultz,  Travels,  II,  56. 
^Ibid.  i  Ashe,  loc.  cit. 

4  Parker  (1787),  in  Illinoi<;  Hist.  Colls.,  IV,  411. 

5  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  127;   Austin,  loc.  oil. 
^  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  App.  IV. 

7  Brackenridge,  loc.  cit. 

*  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  215. 


FRENCH  COLOSIZATION  89 

ment  above  the  Ohio.'  The  Indian  settlement  attracted  a  few  French- 
men, but  at  the  time  of  its  cession  to  the  United  States  Cape  Girardeau 
contained  only  five  French  families  out  of  a  total  population  of  about 
twelve  hundred.-  In  181 2  there  were  only  three  or  four  Frenchmen  in 
the  Cape  Girardeau  district.^ 

A  few  families  lived  on  the  lower  Meramec,  in  closer  touch-  with  St. 
Louis  than  with  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  year  1774  has  been  cited  as  the 
date  of  earliest  settlement  in  this  section.  .  Cattle  raising  and  the  manu- 
facture of  salt  seem  to  have  been  the  chief  occupations.''  As  late  as 
181 2  salt  works  on  the  Meramec  supplied  in  large  part  the  district  of 
St.  Louis.5 

After  1776  the  eastern  settlements  were  united  more  closely  by  the 
laying  out  of  the  King's  Trace  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Madrid.  This 
road  crossed  the  ]\Ieramec  a  mile  above  its  mouth  and  Joachim  Creek 
near  Horine,  passing  through  Sulphur  Springs,  Ste.  Genevieve,  and 
Cape  Girardeau.*^ 

FRENCH  IN  THE   MISSOURI   VALLEY 

French  adventurers,  facile  voyagers  in  the  canoe,  made  their  appear- 
ance on  the  Missouri  River  almost  as  soon  as  they  did  on  the  Mississippi. 
In  1703  a  party  of  twenty-three  made  a  trip  up  the  Missouri  in  search  of 
mines. 7  Two  years  later  a  Frenchman  reported,  probably  with  con- 
siderable exaggeration,  that  he  had  been  to  the  frontier  of  Mexico  by 
way  of  the  Missouri.  His  statement  nevertheless  displays  a  correct 
conception  of  the  geography  of  the  Missouri  River  system  at  a  very 
early  date.  In  the  same  year  fifty  Canadians  arrived  at  Mobile,  among 
them  some  who  had  traded  in  many  Indian  villages  on  the  Missouri.* 

The  fur  trade  on  the  Missouri  River  is  therefore  nearly  as  old  as  are 
the  lead  mines  and  salt  works  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  meager 
records  of  the  time  indicate  that  the  Indian  trade  was  prosecuted  more 
or  less  steadily  from  the  outset.  In  1722  Fort  Orleans  was  built  in  the 
Missouri,  near  Brunswick,'  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  nearby 
Indians.'"    In  1724  a  convoy  of  furs  from  the  Missouri  was  received  at 

'  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  II,  174.  ^  Stoddard,  op.  cil.,  p.  214. 

'  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  II,  403-7.  *  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  I,  141. 

s  Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  pp.  218,  221. 

^  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  I,  141-42;  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  II,  150-53. 

'  Houck,  op.  cit.,  I,  243. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  244.  *  Amer.  Nation,  VII,  83. 

"  Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  258;  Du  Pratz,  Hist,  of  Louisiana  (London,  1763),  I,  296-97. 


90         GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF   MISSOURI 

Fort  Chartres.^  By  1744  it  appears  that  a  number  of  French  traders 
had  estabhshed  themselves  along  this  stream,  as  the  census  of  that  year 
records  200  white  males  then  resident  on  the  Missouri.^  By  1758  the 
French  had  penetrated  300  leagues  up  the  river  and  had  become  fairly 
well  acquainted  with  the  Osage  River.^  Previously,  in  17 19,  Du  Tisne 
had  traveled  across  southern  Missouri,  probably  reaching  a  point  near 
the  headwaters  of  the  Osage  River  in  Kansas.'' 

The  founding  of  St.  Louis  in  1764  provided  an  adequate  base  for  the 
fur  trade,  which  increased  rapidly  from  that  time  on.  Thereafter  the 
Missouri  was  freighted  with  an  increasing  number  of  traders'  bateaux 
going  to  their  various  posts  laden  with  implements,  powder,  lead,  clothes, 
trinkets,  and  often  with  whiskey,  and  returning  with  precious  cargoes  of 
furs. 

For  many  years  the  only  settlements  on  the  Missouri  were  St. 
Charles  and  La  Charrette,  or  St.  John's. s  The  latter  was  the  last  group 
of  houses  passed  by  Lewis  and  Clark  on  the  outward  journey  in  1804.^ 
It  was  a  frontier  post  and  village  at  the  mouth  of  Charrette  Creek  in 
Warren  County,  and  probably  was  founded  as  early  as  1766.7  In  181 1 
it  consisted  of  ten  or  twelve  families,  half  hunter,  half  agriculturist.* 
The  site  possessed  small  merit,  and  the  village  was  after  a  time  destroyed 
by  the  river.  About  1808  Cote  sans  Dessein  was  founded,  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Missouri,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Osage  River.'  Its  inhabit- 
ants supported  themselves  chiefly  by  hunting.'"*  This  village  also  was 
located  poorly  on  the  bottom  land,  and  was  destroyed  after  a  time  by  the 
encroachments  of  the  river.  The  people  then  crossed  to  the  other  bank, 
where  they  established  themselves  on  the  upland."  Descendants  of  this 
group  still  live  in  the  vicinity  of  Bonnot's  Mill,  Osage  County. 

The  Missouri  River  settlements  were  concerned  primarily  with  the 
fur  trade.  It  was  quite  natural  that  a  few  half-wild  French  traders 
should  locate  on  the  great  route  to  one  of  the  most  important  fur  districts 
of  the  New  World.  Their  dependence  was  on  the  Missouri  River  rather 
than  on  the  adjacent  country,  and  so  they  selected  sites  at  creek  mouths, 

'  Houck,  loc.  cit.  3  Du  Pratz,  op.  ciL,  p.  295. 

^  Houck,  op.  cit.,  p.  286.  4  Houck,  loc.  cit. 

5  Houck,  op.  cit.,  II,  91. 

^  Gass's  Journal  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition  (McClurg  ed.),  p.  3. 

7  Bradbury,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  note  on  p.  42. 

8  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana  (Journal),  p.  205. 

9  Ibid.,  pp.  115,  209.  ^^  Ibid.,  p.  209. 

"  Maximilian,  Prince  of  Wied,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XXII,  242. 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  9 1 

whence  they  could  easily  launch  their  boats  into  the  river.  In  part 
they  traded  independently,  in  part  they  attached  themselves  to  parties 
from  St.  Louis.  Their  villages  were  a  collection  of  poor  huts  and  their 
habits  of  life  very  primitive.  As  a  result  of  their  association  with  the 
Indians,  intermarriages  were  frequent,  and  the  Missouri  River  settle- 
ments contained  a  considerable  admixture  of  Indian  blood  in  contrast 
to  the  French  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 

MODE   OF   HABITATION 

The  French  gravitated  invariably  toward  villages  except  when 
engaged  in  hunting,  trapping,  or  in  some  instances  in  mining.'  Before 
the  period  of  American  immigration  almost  the  entire  population  was 
included  in  villages.  It  has  been  suggested  that  this  condition  was  due 
to  danger  from  Indians.^  The  French  seem  to  have  been,  however,  on 
the  best  terms  with  the  savages,  and  early  American  residents  of  this 
section  lived  in  isolated  establishments  with  impunity.  The  most 
likely  explanation  rests  on  the  social  instincts  of  the  French  and  on  the 
character  of  their  cultivation.  They  cared  a  great  deal  for  the  social 
amenities,  and  could  supply  these  only  by  living  together  in  villages.^ 
Those  who  were,  for  a  time,  removed  from  their  neighbors  in  the  pursuit 
of  furs  or  the  collection  of  lead  returned  to  the  settlements  with  increased 
desire  for  the  convivial  diversions  they  afforded.  Moreover,  the  French 
produced  the  food  needed  to  supply  their  small  wants  from  garden 
patches,  which  did  not  necessitate  the  detached  farms  on  which  the 
Americans,  producers  of  extensive  crops,  lived. 

''The  villages  were  regularly  laid  out  in  squares  .  .  .  .  ,  the  houses 
standing  towards  the  streets,  and  the  interior  of  the  area  composed  of 
gardens  and  orchards."''  Houses  built  out  to  the  street  are  still  char- 
acteristic of  Ste.  Genevieve.  In  contrast  to  the  American  dwellings  the 
houses  of  the  French  were  constructed  from  hewn  logs  placed  in  the 
ground  perpendicularly  and  plastered  with  mud  on  the  outside.s 
The  tj-pe  is  still  extant  in  Ste.  Genevieve.  The  most  inviting  feature 
of  these  old  houses  is  the  large  porch  space  which  they  have.  Most  of 
them  were  long  and  had  only  one  story.  The  porch  commonly  extended 
the  length  of  the  house,  and  its  roof  was  continuous  with  that  of  the 

'  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  113;  Viles,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  214. 

'  Austin,  Amcr.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  519. 

J  Every  traveler  who  wrote  about  this  region  has  described  the  social  life  of  the 
French;  one  of  the  best  accounts  is  by  Thomas  Ashe,  Travels  in  Amer.,  p.  289. 

*  Bradbury,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  259.  s  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  100. 


92  GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

house.'  This  semitropical  style  of  architecture  is  said  to  have  been 
introduced  from  the  West  Indies.^  It  has  given  to  the  streets  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  where  it  is  best  preserved,  a  pecuHar  charm. 

CONDITION   OF   THE  FRENCH   SETTLEMENTS   AND   ITS   CAUSES 

The  French,  as  earhest  inhabitants  of  the  region,  estabhshed  in  a 
section  possessing  mineral  wealth  and  more  than  average  agricultural 
possibilities,  migh^  be  expected  to  have  developed  prosperous  conditions 
and  to  have  maintained  precedence  in  wealth  and  social  position  over 
later  comers.  Most  of  the  French  families  had  been  in  the  region  for 
several  generations,  some  of  them  for  a  full  century,  before  the  Americans 
came.  The  people  were  not  oppressed  by  their  government;  indeed, 
they  were  ruled  benevolently  and  on  various  occasions  had  been  subsi- 
dized liberally.  It  was  said  that  anyone  could  obtain  as  much  land  as 
he  chose  to  cultivate. ^  Conditions  therefore  should  have  been  favorable 
to  progress.  According  to  the  accounts  of  the  time,  however,  the  average 
habitant  was  little  better  off  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
than  was  his  ancestor  at  the  time  of  immigration.  The  American  settler 
speedily  dominated  almost  every  field  of  activity  and  improved  on 
French  methods.  The  French  proved  inferior  to  the  Americans  in  the 
following  respects:  (i)  Efficient  lead  smelting  was  unknown  to  them. 
(2)  They  had  sunk  no  shafts  into  rock  to  mine  lead,  but  were  content  to 
hunt  it  out  from  the  surface  debris.  (3)  The  salt  as  well  as  the  lead 
industry  soon  passed  into  the  hands  of  Americans.  (4)  French  methods 
of  farming  were  distinctly  inferior,  both  as  to  yields  secured  and  area 
cultivated.  (5)  In  spite  of  recurrent  losses  by  flood  their  cultivation  was 
limited  to  bottom  lands.  (6)  With  liberal  encouragement  by  the  govern- 
ment they  failed  to  produce  an  appreciable  surplus  of  agricultural 
products,  especially  of  flour.  (7)  Although  land  grants  of  generous 
size  were  to  be  had  with  little  trouble,  in  most  cases  titles  were  not 
secured  until  the  Americans  came.  (8)  Their  settlements,  as  Old  Ste. 
Genevieve,  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Cote  sans  Dessein,  and  Charrette, 
were  located  with  little  regard  to  the  safety  of  life  and  property,  the  sole 
consideration  being  accessibility  to  waterways  and  nearness  of  rich  land. 
They  were,  in  large  part,  truly  cotes  sans  dessein.  (9)  The  Americans 
built  better  houses  at  the  outset  than  the  French  did  after  long  residence. ^ 

'  Baird,  View  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  243. 

'  Brackeiiridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  119. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  141.  4  Trudeau,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  II,  256. 


FRENCH  COLOMZATION  93 

The  contrast  between  the  two  races  was  commented  upon  at  length 
by  early  travelers,  most  of  whom  ascribed  it  to  an  inherent  inferiority 
of  the  French,  manifesting  itself  in  indolence.     The  official  American 
account  of  1803  described  them  as  characterized  by  "aversion  to  labor, 
and  love  of  a  wandering  life."'     Their  environment,  however,  contributed 
in  several  ways  to  this  condition,     (i)  The  settlements  because  of  their  I 
dependence  on  rivers  were  in  or  adjacent  to  bottoms,  which  were  malarial,  f 
''The  inhabitants  seem  indolent,  yawning  as  if  under  the  constant  influ- 
ence of  fever  and  ague;    which,  in  fact,  they  often  have."^     (2)  Thel 
isolation  of  the  settlements  resulted  in  consanguinity,^  which  possibly' 
had  deleterious  results.     (3)  The  somewhat  Arcadian  conditions  in  which  f 
the  population  lived  did  not  stimulate  endeavor.     "Finding  themselves 
in  a  fruitful  country,  abounding  in  game,  where  the  necessaries  of  life 
could  be  procured  with  little  labour,  where  no  restraints  were  imposed 
by  government,  and  neither  tribute  nor  personal  service  was  exacted, 
they   were   content    to    live   in    unambitious   peace,    and    comfortable 
poverty."-'     "In  this  remote  country,  there  were  few  objects  to  urge  to 
enterprise,  and  few  occasions  to  call  forth  and  exercise  their  energies."s 

These  environmental  handicaps  were  all  temporary,  however,  and 
when  removed  the  development  of  the  French  stock  should  have  been 
parallel  to  that  of  the  American  and  later  of  the  German  immigrants. 
This  has  not  been  the  case.  A  few  have  been  markedly  successful  in 
trade  and  professions;  few  indeed  have  succeeded  in  agriculture.  The 
majority  have  remained  poor.^  In  a  number  of  cases  the  successful 
French  families  are  not  of  Canadian  stock.  The  descendants  of  the 
latter  have,  on  the  whole,  fared  poorly  indeed.  For  the  complete 
answer  to  their  lack  of  success  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  go  back  of  their 
present  environment,  probably  to  the  conditions  under  which  the  emigra- 
tion from  France  to  Canada  took  place. 

PRESENT   DISTRIBUTION   OF   THE   FRENCH    STOCK 

Fig.  21  shows  roughly  the  area  in  which  French  influence  was  felt, 
as  recorded  by  place-names  of  French  origin.  French  traders  have 
given  names  to  the  more  important  features  along  the  Mississippi  and 

'  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana,  p.  10. 
'  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  97. 
3  Brackcnridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  135. 

*  Hall,  History,  Life,  and  Manners  in  the  West,  I,  180. 
s  Brackcnridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  134. 

*  Oelshausen  described  their  condition  as  such  (1854)  in  Staat  Missouri,  p.  66. 


94 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


Missouri  rivers,  most  abundantly  so  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis  and  Ste. 
Genevieve.     The  majority  of  the  places  bearing  French  names,  however,- 
have  never  been  occupied  by  Frenchmen,  but  are  river  features,  named 
by  passing  traders. 

A  large  part  of  the  early  French  stock,  distributed  as  outlined  in  the 
previous  section,  has  been  absorbed.  A  great  many  have  drifted  to 
St.  Louis,  where  they  have  found  congenial  occupation  in  commercial 


~  STREAMS  Mftneo  Br  FRENCH 

OCines  nND>lu.«ses  B67MJIN9- 

MAMes  oe^RivedPRom  the 

LftKBi,  BoTTons;  iAanos)  with 

FRfNiH   KAME3- 

.':  fli?ras  in  which  pjsvoy 
SPEECH  IS  snu.  oset> 
Tbsorie/mre^ir.. 


Fig.  21. — Distribution  of  French  influence  in  Missouri 


pursuits.  The  remnant  areas  in  which  traces  of  the  French  language 
still  persist  are  shown  in  Fig.  21.  Ste.  Genevieve  retains  in  part  its 
French  characteristics,  and  the  French  still  dominate  in  the  old  mining 
settlements  of  Mine  La  Motte,  Old  Mines,  Fertile,  and  Valle  Mines,  and 
on  the  Missouri  at  Bonnet's  Mill.  In  Ste.  Genevieve,  which  until 
recently  has  been  a  secluded  place,  they  have  retained  race  conscious- 
ness and  pride  and  a  fine  Old  World  courtesy.  Here  centuries-old 
customs  may  be  observed,  such  as  the  festival  procession  and  the  chant- 
ing of  "la  gaie  annee"  at  the  turn  of  the  year.     In  the  outlying  settle- 


FRENCH  COLONIZATION  95 

ments,  as  in  Washington  County,  long-continued  isolation  and  poverty, 
due  to  their  establishment  in  the  least  desirable  districts,  have  told  to 
their  disadvantage.  The  people  are  dimly  conscious  of  their  past. 
Their  language  has  been  corrupted  to  a  very  poor  patois,  and  for  the  most 
part  they  have  retrograded  with  time.  The  largest  district  in  which  the 
French  language  is  spoken  today  is  in  the  remote  hills  of  Washington 
County,  by  scattered  groups  of  very  backward  settlers,  half  farmers, 
half  laborers  at  opportune  employments. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  MISSOURI  AND  MISSISSIPPI 
BORDERS  AND  IN  THE  ST.  FRANCOIS  REGION 

BASES   OF   IMMIGRATION 

The  first  American  immigration  into  the  trans-Mississippi  country 
was  from  the  Ohio  Valley,  in  response  to  encouragement  by  the  Spanish 
authorities.  Morgan's  colony  at  New  Madrid,  begun  in  1788,  is  per- 
haps the  earliest  American  settlement  in  undoubtedly  Spanish  territory. 
Spain  for  a  time  favored  American  immigration  to  demonstrate  to  the 
trans-Appalachian  settlements  the  benefits  of  Spanish  suzerainty  and  so 
to  seduce  them  from  their  adherence  to  the  United  States.  Spain  also 
suspected  England  of  designs  against  Louisiana,  and  welcomed  the 
American  frontiersmen  as  defenders  against  such  an  aggression.  In 
1796-97  Spain  feared  an  attack  from  Canada  on  Upper  Louisiana.  "  The 
distance  of  this  province  from  the  capital,  added  to  a  wilderness  of  nearly 
a  thousand  miles  in  extent  between  them,  seemed  to  point  out  the  neces- 
sity of  strengthening  it."'  For  this  purpose  inducements  were  held  out 
to  immigrants.  Lands  were  given  gratuitously,  except  for  the  cost  of 
survey  and  confirmation,  and  were  exempt  from  taxes.  Americans 
were  preferred,  "as  their  prejudices  against  the  English  were  a  sure 
guarantee  of  their  attachment  to  the  Spanish  interest."^ 

The  inhabitants  of  the  New  West  as  yet  possessed  but  poorly  defined 
ideas  of  the  body  politic  to  which  they  belonged.  Their  isolation  from 
the  seaboard  states  excluded  them  at  first  from  an  active  part  in  the 
government  of  the  country  and  denied  them  most  of  the  benefits  to  be 
anticipated  from  their  adherence  to  the  Union.  Neither  actual  benefits 
nor  the  sentiments  that  arise  with  time  had  provided  the  strong  bond  of 
patriotism  to  hold  them  fast  to  the  United  States.  Granted  some 
material  inducement,  many  a  frontiersman  was  quite  ready  to  transfer 
his  allegiance  from  the  United  States  to  the  king  of  Spain.  In  fact, 
the  transfer  meant  little  change  in  his  political  condition,  for  the  govern- 
mental control  exerted  by  either  power  over  the  inhabitants  of  the 
interior  regions  was  slight  and  little  was  demanded  in  taxes  or  service. 
The  American  resident  of  the  west  bank  of  the  IMississippi,  having  com- 
plied with  the  formalities  of  his  transfer,  lived,  as  he  had  lived  previously, 

'  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  225.  '  Ibid.,  p.  249. 

96 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS 


97 


5t.Looi  J 

C«Tond«let 


vieve 


\<*ns 


by  self-constituted  order  which  he  estabhshed  and  enforced  in  his 
pioneer  community.  His  law  was  not  determined  by  federal  statute  nor 
royal  promulgation,  but  was  the  code  of  frontier  society. 

A  number  of  conditions  made  the  Spanish  ofifer  of  free  lands  attract- 
ive to  many,  (i)  The  Ohio  River  led  directly  from  the  older  American 
settlements  to  Upper  Louisiana. 
By  it  especially  were  emigrants 
directed  westward.  Thus  a  tongue 
of  settlement  extended  down  the 
Ohio  in  advance  of  the  settlement 
of  districts  remote  from  that  river. 
By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury American  settlements  had 
extended  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio 
and  into  western  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee,  and  the  vanguard  of 
emigrants  was  ready  to  cross  the 
Mississippi.  (2)  The  prairie  region, 
beginning  a  short  distance  north  of 
the  Ohio,  was  considered  unsuited 
to  agriculture.  The  opinion  of  one 
of  the  best-versed  men  of  the  day 
was:  "A  small  part  only  of  that, 
extensive  tract  between  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  Vincennes  ....  will 
ever  be  settled.  The  scarcity  of 
wood  and  water  furnish  insuper- 
able objections  to  it."'  (3)  The 
resources  of  the  trans-Mississippi 
country  had  been  made  known, 
although  little  developed,  by  the 
French,  whom  the  Americans  were 
encountering  continually  on  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers.  (4) 
The  lead  mines  were  favorably  known  throughout  the  country.  (5)  Brad- 
bur>'  sums  up  the  agricultural  attractions  of  the  region  as  being  "inferior 
to  no  part  in  soil  or  climate,"  while  the  sparse  stand  of  timber  gave 
excellent  grazing  and  made  the  clearing  of  land  for  cultivation  an  easy 
matter.  (6)  The  same  author  stated  the  following  commercial  advan- 
tages of  its  location:   (a)  the  transit  to  New  Orleans  could  be  made  at 

'  Ibid.,  p.  262. 


Fig.  22. — Areas  having  a  population 
of  more  than  two  to  the  square  mile  in 
1800  (after  Spanish  census  of  1800,  in 
Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  and  contempo- 
raiy  sources). 


98 


GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


any  season,  whereas  because  of  low  water  the  upper  Ohio  was  not  navi- 
gable in  the  months  following  the  harvest;  {b)  the  region  in  general  was 
600  to  1,000  miles  nearer  that  city,  the  only  market  then  available,  than 
was  the  upper  Ohio  Valley.^    Another  early  \dsitor  to  the  region  gave  the 


per  s<j.nr» 


Fig.  23.— Population  of  Missouri,  1820-21   (after  census  of  1820,  Campbell's 
Gazetteer,  and  other  contemporary  sources). 

following  account  of  prices  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  as  determined  by 
the  stage  of  water  in  the  Ohio.  "In  December  and  January  the  price 
of  beef  would  rise  to  27  cents  a  pound,  flour  to  8|  dollars,  and  everything 
else  in  proportion.  The  inhabitants  of  Missouri  at  this  time  would  have 
no  compunction  and  could  sell  as  they  chose,  and  did  sell  at  a  fourfold 
'  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  262. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS 


99 


advance.  No  sooner  did  the  Ohio  rise  than  the  states  contiguous  to  it 
flooded  the  markets  with  produce  and  a  barrel  of  flour  dropped  from 
8|  to  2h  and  2  dollars."'     (7)  Men  of  means  were  attracted  because  the 


Fig.  24.— Population  of  Missouri,  1830  (after  census  of  1830  and  other  con- 
temporary sources).  • 

keeping  of  slaves  was  permitted.*     (8)  Land  titles  in  Kentucky  were  in 
considerable  part  defective  and  were  often  contested.^     (9)  Some  left 

'  Sea'sfield  (Sidon),  Nordamerika,  II,  126. 

» Stoddard,  op.  ciL,  p.  225;  Bogess,  Chicago  Historical  Society  Collections,  V,  55; 
Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Petitions  of  E.  Cohan,  Survey  No.  1015,  and  of 
N.  Cook,  Survey  No.  342. 

3  Volney,  TIte  Soil  and  Climate  of  lite  U.S.  (1804),  p.  339. 


lOO       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

the  American  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  because  of  increasing  taxes  and 
land  values/  In  the  minds  of  many  westerners  the  sale  of  lands  by 
Congress,  even  at  a  very  normal  sum,  contrasted  unfavorably  with  the  atti- 
tude of  Spain.^  (lo)  Until  1799  public  lands  in  the  Northwest  Territory 
could  be  bought  only  in  tracts  of  4,000  acres^  and  no  land  was  sold  west 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River  before  1804.4  (11)  Almost  the 
entire  area  of  Illinois  was  held  by  Indian  tribes,  the  first  important  extinc- 
tion of  Indian  titles  being  in  1803.5  Similar  conditions  prevailed  in  other 
parts  of  the  Northwest  Territory.  (12)  Settlers  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  had  at  all  times  free  access  to  New  Orleans,  the  only 
available  seaport  west  of  the  Appalachians. 

As  soon  as  the  way  was  opened  immigration  began  u-ith  a  rush.  In 
1796  it  was  claimed  that  more  than  eight  hundred  Americans  were  fixed 
in  the  Missouri  country  and  that  they  were  driving  out  the  French,  who 
were  returning  to  Canada  and  Lower  Louisiana.^  In  this  year  Austin 
said,  "Land  have  already  been  granted  to  1000  Famelies  Near  four 
Hundred  of  which  have  arrivd  from  different  parts  of  the  United  States. "^ 
In  1804,  1,721,493  arpents  of  land  were  claimed  in  Upper  Louisiana, 
largely  by  Americans.*  From  1796  to  1803  the  Spanish  officials  were 
overwhelmed  with  petitions  for  land  grants.  In  the  Missouri  and  Mis- 
sissippi borders  and  in  the  St.  Francois  region  a  large  part  of  the  most 
desirable  agricultural  and  mineral  lands  was  granted  to  American 
immigrants  before  the  cession  of  Louisiana.  These  Spanish  claims, 
as  they  are  still  called,  form  a  mosaic  of  irregular  tracts,  large  and  small. 
They  include  most  of  the  Frederick  town  soils,  a  large  part  of  the  Hagers- 
town,  loess,  and  alluvial  lands  of  the  eastern  and  northeastern  borders, 
and  extensive  areas  of  surficial  lead  deposits.  These  grants  outline  in 
some  sections  the  most  desirable  tracts  of  land  with  great  nicety. 

After  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States  the  land  policy 
of  the  new  government  affected  the  settlement  of  the  region  unfavorably 
to  some  extent.  It  was  made  the  subject  of  memorials  and  of  much 
criticism  on  the  part  of  citizens  of  the  territory,  by  whom  speedy  occupa- 
tion of  the  public  domain  and  security  of  possession  were  the  objects  most 
•desired,     (i)  At  the  end  of  the  Spanish  period  fraudulent  practices  were 

^  Volney,  loc.  cit.;  also  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Petition  of  Wm.  Murphy, 
Survey  No.  2053. 

"  Parker,  in  Illinois  Hist.  Colls.,  IV,  410.  ■*  Ihid.,  p.  80. 

3  Bogess,  Chicago  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.,  V,  76.  s  Ibid.,  p.  79. 

*  Volney,  The  Soil  and  Climate  of  the  U.S.  (1804),  p.  339. 

">  Amcr.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  535.  '  Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  p.  245. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  lOl 

employed  to  secure  claims  of  land.'  Congress  accordingly  refused  to 
confirm  many  of  these  Spanish  grants.  They  were  subjected  to  numerous 
investigations  and  the  titles  of  many  of  them  were  not  decided  for  several 
decades.  As  a  result,  the  Mississippi  River  Border  especially,  in  which 
most  of  these  grants  were  located,  suffered.  (2)  In  1815  an  act  was 
passed  providing  for  the  relocation  of  lands  lost  or  damaged  in  the  New 
Madrid  earthquake.  The  act  was  said  at  the  time  to  have  led  to  "more 
downright  villainy  than  any  law  passed  by  Congress."^  These  reloca- 
tions were  largely  made  in  the  Missouri  Valley  and  introduced  many 
questionable  titles  into  that  section.  (3)  As  an  early  attempt  at  con- 
serv'ation  the  government  reserved  the  public  lands  supposed  to  contain 
lead,  iron,  or  salt,^  of  which  150,000  acres  were  classed  as  lead-bearing 
lands.4  In  1828  the  state  of  Missouri  made  application  for  the  sale  of 
these  lands,  representing  that  large  fertile  tracts  were  thus  kept  from 
entry  and  that  under  existing  conditions  they  were  of  benefit  to  no  one.s 
In  1830  the  reserved  lands  were  offered  for  sale.^  (4)  Sales  of  public 
land  were  not  held  until  1817,^  and  for  some  time  thereafter  were  infre- 
quent. The  minimum  price  of  Si .  25  an  acre  was  considered  prohibitive 
for  nine-tenths  of  the  land  of  the  state.*  As  a  result  of  these  conditions 
it  was  claimed  in  1828  that  "hundreds  of  our  citizens  have  left  to  seek 
lands  in  the  Mexican  states;  and  not  one-third  are  possessed  of  lands."' 
The  principal  result  of  the  government  restrictions,  however,  was  prob- 
ably not  so  much  to  retard  growth  as  to  increase  the  proportion  of 
squatters. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  IMMIGRANT  STOCK 

The  early  immigrants  were  mostly  of  southern  stock,'"  a  irtajority 
coming  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  In  fact  the  settlement  of  this 
portion  of  Missouri  was  by  the  extension  of  the  settlements  of  these 
states.  Of  the  thirty-two  framers  of  the  state  constitution  in  1820 
whose  birthplaces  are  known,  nine  came  from  Kentucky,  eight  from 
Virginia,  three  from  Tennessee,  two  each  from  Maryland,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Missouri,  whereas  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  the  District  of 

'Ibid.,  pp.  253-57. 

*  Amer.  Slate  Papers,  Public  Lands,  IV,  47. 

J  lind.,  V,  622.  1 1bid.,  XV,  1 25. 

*  Ibid.,  IV,  559.  '  Amcr.  Slate  Papers,  Public  Lands,  V,  622. 
s  Ibid.,  V,  604.  » Ibid. 

*  NUes'  Register,  XXXVIII,  1 23.  »  NUes'  Register,  XVII,  288. 


102        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Columbia,  New  York,  Ireland,  and  Wales  each  contributed  one.^  Per- 
haps the  five  best-known  names  of  early  years  in  Cape  Girardeau  County 
are  those  of  Ramsay,  Byrd,  Russell,  Rodney,  and  Randol.  The  first 
of  these  famihes  came  directly  from  Virginia.  The  Byrds  moved  from 
North  Carolina  to  Washington,  and  later  to  Knox  County,  Tennessee; 
thence  the  whole  kindred  set  out  for  Missouri.  The  Russells  were 
originally  from  North  Carolina,  but  had  been  long  resident  in  Tennessee. 
The  Randols  were  from  Pennsylvania.^  A  record  of  the  old  settlers 
of  American  descent,  taken  in  1888,  for  Cape  Girardeau,  Perry, 
Franklin,  St.  Francois,  Bollinger,  and  Wayne  counties  shows  that  the 
following  states  contributed  most  numerously,  in  order:  Tennessee, 
North  Carolina,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Kentucky. ^  Virginia, 
Pennsylvania,  and  North  Carolina  were  situated  at  the  eastern  termini 
of  the  only  routes  across  the  Appalachians  then  available.  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky  received  the  overflow  from  the  seaboard  states,  and  in 
their  turn  became  the  distributing  centers  for  newer  regions  farther 
west  and  south.  Those  who  went  west  from  Kentucky  or  Tennessee 
were  at  most  one  generation  removed  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  states. 
For  example,  Senator  Lewis  Linn  was  a  native  of  the  Bluegrass  of 
Kentucky,  his  parents  having  removed  to  that  region  from  Pennsyl- 
vania.'' Emigration  from  southern  states  was  due  in  the  first  place  to 
the  economic  pressure  caused  by  extensive,  wasteful  farming,  largely 
with  slave  labor,  which  demanded  large  farms,  depleted  the  soil  rapidly, 
and  tended  to  drive  out  the  farmers  who  were  not  slave-owners.  The 
lack  of  manufactures  and  the  primitive  condition  of  commerce  in  the 
southern  states  prevented  absorption  of  the  surplus  farm  population  into 
other  pursuits.  The  result  was  the  first  great  wave  of  emigration  from 
the  seaboard  to  the  West,  which  was  not  spent  until  it  had  overspread 
the  Mississippi  Basin  as  far  west  as  Texas  and  Kansas.  Southern  Mis- 
souri was  so  situated  as  to  intercept  a  large  part  of  this  westward-moving 
stream  of  population,  especially  that  which  descended  the  Ohio,  Cumber- 
land, and  Tennessee  rivers.  Some  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  River 
portions  of  the  state  of  Missouri  still  retain  in  large  part  dominant 
southern  traits,  and  are  referred  to  occasionally  by  their  political  antago- 
nists as  Bourbon  districts. 

Many  of  the  emigrants  from  the  southeastern  states  were  of  the 
restless  frontier  t3'pe,  leading  a  seminomadic  life  at  hunting  and  farm- 

'  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  VI,  62-63. 

'History  of  Southeastern  Missouri,  pp.  272-79. 

3  Summarized  from  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri.        '•  Life  of  Dr.  Linn,  chap.  i. 


AM  ERICA  X  SETTLEMENTS  1 03 

ing  and  removing  to  newer  lands  whenever  the  older  region  became 
fairly  well  settled.  In  the  main  these  people  formed  the  advance  guard 
of  civilization  on  the  outer  margin  of  the  frontier.  From  Missouri 
many  later  moved  to  the  newer  West.  A  few  remained  because  of  the 
excellent  hunting  which  the  state  afforded.  The  last  home  of  Daniel 
Boone  was  in  this  state;  near  by  Kit  Carson  spent  his  early  years.  A 
more  stable  group,  which  came  from  the  South  at  an  early  date,  was  com- 
posed of  slave-owners,  who  found  a  climate  and  soil  suited  to  the  success- 
ful employment  of  slave  labor  and  a  government  which  permitted  their 
ownership.'  A  third  group  included  small  farmers,  notably  Scotch- 
Irish  and  Germans,  chiefly  from  the  Appalachian  Valley  and  from  the 
Piedmont. 

NUCLEI   OF   SETTLEMENT  IN   THE    MISSISSIPPI   BORDER   AND   THE 

ST.    FR.\NCOIS   REGION 

The  Mississippi  River  Border  of  the  Ozarks,  being  nearest  the  Ohio, 
was  the  first  part  of  Missouri  to  receive  settlers  (Fig.  25).  Because  its 
various  parts  were  almost  equally  accessible  settlements  were  formed 
throughout  the  length  of  the  region  at  about  the  same  time.  The  more 
favored  parts  of  the  adjacent  St.  Francois  region  were  occupied  within 
a  few  years  of  the  first  locations  in  the  Mississippi  Border.  The 
principal  attractions  to  settlement  were  accessibility,  bodies  of  Hagers- 
town,  Fredericktown,  loess,  and  creek  bottom  soils,  lead  mines,  and 
salt  springs. 

Because  the  resources  of  this  eastern  region  are  distributed  very 
unequally  settlement  was  not  effected  by  gradual,  even  expansion, 
but  consisted  in  the  early  formation  of  nuclei  of  population  at  the  most 
desirable  locations,  and  the  filling  in  of  the  intermediate  areas  slowly,  and 
in  some  instances  at  much  later  dates. 

Cape  Girardeau  was  one  of  the  earliest  American  settlements  in  the 
Mississippi  Border  and  soon  became  the  most  flourishing.  In  1795 
Ramsay  located  on  a  creek  southwest  of  Cape  Girardeau  and  subse- 
quently a  settlement  formed  around  his  plantation,  most  of  the  older 
farms  being  in  the  creek  bottoms.  A  settlement  was  made  on  Hubble 
Creek  in  1797,'  and  on  the  Whitewater,  with  the  most  extensive  bottoms 
in  the  county,  in  I796.''     In  1798  the  American  settlers  numbered  thirty 

•  Brackcnridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  116.  • 

*  Houck,  Hisl.  of  Missouri,  II,  185. 

J  Encyclopaedia  of  the  Ilislory  of  Missouri. 


I04       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


families/  mostly  located  in  these  first  years  on  Hubble,  Whitewater,  and 
Cape  La  Croix  creeks.^  Shortly  the  desirability  of  the  Hagerstown 
upland  soils  was  recognized.  In  1 799  the  Byrd  settlement  was  formed  on 
the  upland,  its  location  being  described  as  resembling  a  park.^  This 
soil  attracted  rapidly  great  numbers  of  settlers,''  most  of  its  area  in  this 


Schoof  ^ecVons-  swama  lands 

■■      Entries  Ufrrc  ISIO 
BIQ     Entries    IB20-3O 
(g^      Entries    l&iO-HO 
r:^^     Entiles    I8t0-50 
^^     Enhtei   I8S0-60 
Entries   nfter  1860 


Fig.  25. — Order  of  land  entries  in  Osage  County  (prepared  from  Land  Entry 
Book,  County  Clerk's  Ofl&ce,  Linn). 

county  being  included  in  Spanish  surveys.  In  1812  the  Hagerstown 
upland  was  described  as  possessing  a  luxuriant  soil,  well  covered  with 
timber  and  inferior  to  none  in  Upper  Louisiana;  ''the  richest  and  most 

'  Trudeau,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  II,  247. 
» Amer.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  II,  477-82. 
3  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  II,  184. 
*  Viles,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  198-99. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  105 

industrious  farmers  in  this  part  of  the  world  are  the  proprietors."' 
Most  of  the  loess  soils  of  the  southern  part  of  the  county  also  were  entered 
before  1803.  With  its  large  areas  of  desirable  soils  and  good  streams  for 
mill  purposes^  the  population  of  the  district  grew  rapidly.  In  1799  there 
were  521  settlers.^  In  1800  it  contained  740  people;  in  1803,  1,206; 
and  in  1810,  3,883.4  In  1818  Cape  Girardeau  had  the  reputation  of 
being  ''one  of  the  most  flourishing  settlements  on  the  western  waters. "s 
In  1821  the  county  had  a  population  of  7,852*  (see  Figs.  22,  23). 

The  town  of  Cape  Girardeau  was  the  river  port  for  this  section, 
being  located  on  "the  first  bluff  that  offers  a  site  for  a  town  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio."^  It  had  300  inhabitants  in  1811.^  Subsequent 
to  181 5  its  growth  was  checked  by  the  founding  of  Jackson,'  which  was 
located  more  centrally  with  reference  to  the  fertile  Hagerstown  and  loess 
soils,  and  was  made  the  county  seat.  Even  in  pioneer  days  Jackson 
derived  an  unusual  affluence  from  its  tributary  territory."  It  contained 
houses  "built  of  brick  and  handsome,""  both  unusual  in  a  western  town. 
In  1826  the  Jackson  community  was  said  to  be  the  most  compact  settle- 
ment in  the  state."  On  the  west  there  was  an  isolated  settlement  in  the 
St.  Francois  Valley,  which  developed  a  small  trading  center  in  1819 
at  Greenville,'^  on  a  ford  of  the  St.  Francois  River,  and  later  became 
e.xpanded  into  Wayne  County. 

In  Perry  County  the  first  American  settlements  were  made  about 
1787  by  a  group  of  Pennsylvanians  in  the  Bois  Brule  bottoms  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  fertile  bottoms  of  Brazeau  and  Apple  creeks  were  occu- 
pied next,  in  1797.'-'  Custom  directed  the  first  settlers  to  the  bottoms, 
but  experience  soon  demonstrated  the  advantages  of  the  upland  lime- 
stone soils.  The  first  large  settlement  in  this  district  was  made  by 
Kentuckians,  at  the  Barrens,  in  1 801-3. '^    The  Barrens  were  an  almost 

'  Stoddard,  Sketclics  of  Louisiana,  pp.  214-15. 

'  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  232. 

i  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana  (1803),  App.  II. 

*  Darby,  Emigrants'  Guide,  p.  142.  '  Beck,  Gazetteer  of  Missouri,  p.  228. 
s  Ibid.  ^  Flint,  loc.  cit. 

*  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  131. 

*  Hist,  of  Soutlieastern  Missouri  (1888),  p.  425. 
"  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XVII,  39. 

"  A.  A.  Parker,  Trip  to  tltc  West  and  Texas  (1835),  p.  266. 

"  Flint,  loc.  cit.  * 

■J  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri,  p.  458. 

^  Houck,  op.  cit.,  I,  381-87.  «  Ibid. 


io6       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

treeless  upland  tract'  of  Hagerstown  soil,  described  as  "a  body  of  good 
second  rate  soil,  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  all  the  small  grains,  lies 
high,  is  well  watered,  has  excellent  timber,  and  is  settled  by  a  consider- 
able number  of  industrious  and  independent  farmers."^  In  the  Barrens, 
Perryville  was  laid  out  in  1822. ^  Later  St.  Mary's  was  founded  and 
became  the  river  port  for  this  important  interior  farming  district,  as 
well  as  for  Mine  La  Motte/ 

The  town  of  Ste.  Genevieve  remained  French  in  its  dominant  char- 
acteristics long  after  it  became  a  possession  of  the  United  States. s 
In  the  region  adjacent  to  Ste.  Genevieve  only  a  small  number  of  Ameri- 
can farmers  settled,  selecting  principally  the  loess  uplands.^  The  coun- 
try in  general  was  too  rough,  its  soils  were  not  sufficiently  rich  to  attract 
much  immigration,^  and  there  was  a  rather  large  indigenous  population. 
The  development  of  the  region  to  the  west,  however,  by  American 
settlers  enlarged  the  trade  and  population  of  Ste.  Genevieve.  In  181 1 
the  town,  together  with  New  Bourbon,  had  about  1,400  inhabitants,* 
among  whom  were  a  number  of  Americans,  engaged  in  commerce. 

As  with  the  French,  the  lead  mines  were  again  the  first  attraction 
which  brought  American  immigrants  to  the  district  now  included  in 
Washington  and  St.  Francois  counties.  In  1798  Moses  Austin  was 
granted  a  square  league  of  land  at  Mine  a  Breton,^  and  in  1799  the  first 
family  settled  there. '°  Austin's  settlement  formed  a  nucleus  for  the 
Americans  who  came  into  that  section,  and  soon  a  considerable  village 
was  formed."  By  1804  there  were  twenty-six  families  at  this  place," 
and  as  the  operation  of  the  mines  increased  in  the  following  years  many 
more  were  attracted. '^  Thus  Mine  a  Breton  became  the  town  of  Potosi, 
which  shortly  was  made  the  county  seat,  as  the  miners  were  an  unruly 
class  and  their  control  from  distant  Ste.  Genevieve  was  a  difficult  matter.'^ 

^Handbook  of  Missouri  (1881),  p.  214. 

'  Van  Zandt,  Full  Description  of  the  Military  Lands,  p.  104. 

3  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri,  p.  449. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  410. 

s  Baird,  View  of  the  Mississippi  (1832),  p.  243. 

^  Trudeau,  in  Houck,  Spanish  Regime,  II,  248. 

7  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  216. 

*  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  125;   Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  p.  215. 

9  Amer.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  209. 

^'>  Amer.  Hist.  Rev.,  V,  519. 

"  Ibid.  '3  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  pp.  243-44. 

"  Amer.  Slate  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  209.       ^^Ibid. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  107 

Near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  increased  prospecting  due 
to  American  immigration  led  to  the  discovery  of  a  number  of  mines. 
The  Mines  a  Joe  (Desloge),  a  Lanye,  a  Maneto,  and  a  la  Plate  (all  on 
Big  River)  were  opened  between  1795  and  1801'  and  formed  the  beginnings 
of  St.  Francois  County.  In  1804  ten  mines  were  worked  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Ste.  Genevieve.^  Mine  au  Shibboleth  (three  miles  east  of 
Old  Mines)  was  discovered  in  1805  or  1806^  and  Bryan's  (Hazel  Run) 
in  1809.''  Schoolcraft  in  1819  listed  forty-five  mines,  of  which  twenty- 
five  were  in  the  vicinity  of  Potosi.^  From  1798-1816,  it  is  said,  9,360,000 
pounds  of  lead  were  smelted  in  the  Potosi  region.^  Some  of  the  discov- 
eries were  highly  remunerative.  Mine  au  Shibboleth  is  said  to  have  pro- 
duced 4,000,000  pounds  in  one  summer,^  and  Bryan's  Mine  yielded 
between  600,000*  and  1,000,000  pounds  in  a  year.'  As  long  as  such 
finds  were  made  immigration  to  the  Potosi  region  continued. 

Agricultural  settlements  in  the  St.  Francois  region  kept  pace  with 
the  mining  development.  Before  the  end  of  the  first  decade  of  the 
nineteenth-century  settlements  of  some  size  had  been  formed  on  all  the 
larger  basins  of  the  Fredericktown  limestone  soil.  Early  descriptions 
of  areas  of  this  soil  are,  without  exception,  in  highly  appreciative  terms. 
According  to  an  account  of  the  time  they  "embrace  a  large  body  of  very 
rich  land,  having  every  necessary  advantage  of  timber  and  fine  water, 
and  are  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  and  improvement  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  excellent  farmers."'"  Belleview  Valley  and  Murphy's  were  both 
settled  in  1798."  Belleview  Settlement  was  mentioned  frequently  in 
early  accounts  for  its  fertility  and  prosperity."  In  1804  it  contained 
twenty  families.'^  It  is  now  a  quiet  little  community,  little  larger  than 
a  century  ago.     Murphy's  Settlement  is  in  the  largest  tract  of  good  land 

'  .\ustin,  in  Amcr.  Stale  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  207-8;  locations  from  Missouri 
Geol.  Surv.,  VII. 

'  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  394. 

i  Bradbury,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  251. 

*  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Lauisiana,  p.  154. 

s  View  of  the  Lead  Mines,  pp.  65-66.  *  Brackenridge,  loc.  cii. 

'  Schoolcraft,  Tour  into  lite  Interior,  p.  4.  »  V^icw  of  llic  Lead  Mines,  p.  75. 

1  Bradbur>',  loc.  cit.  '•  Van  Zandt,  op.  cil.,  p.  104. 

"  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  372,  375. 

"  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  51;  \'an  Zandt,  op.  cit.,  p.  105.  Oclshausen, 
Staal  Missouri,  pp.  13-14;  Beck,  Gazetteer  (1823);  Dana,  Geog.  Sketch  on  the  West- 
ern Country  (1819);   Brown,  Gazetteer,  p.  19. 

"i  Anter.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  209. 


lo8       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

in  the  St.  Francois  region.  In  1818  it  was  said  that  Murphy's  is  "a 
large  and  flourishing  neighborhood  of  industrious  farmers,  and  presents 
many  well  cultivated  fields,  fenced  in  a  neat  and  substantial  manner."^ 
Here  Farmington  was  founded  in  1822^  and  soon  became  a  substantial 
town.  Other  early  settlements  were  at  Caledonia  in  southeastern 
Washington  County ,3  Cook's  in  southeastern  St.  Francois  County,'' 
Stout's  in  Arcadia  Valley,  and  St.  Michael's  near  Fredericktown.s  The 
last  named  is  in  a  large  basin,  isolated  from  other  agricultural  areas 
by  igneous  knobs  and  ridges  of  Gasconade  limestone.  It  has  developed 
individually  therefore  and  has  become  the  administrative  seat  of 
Madison  County. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  Mississippi  River  Border  the  places 
available  for  settlement  were  fewer  and  smaller.  On  the  Meramec  the 
river  bottoms  are  of  small  extent,  and  farms  were  opened  slowly.^ 

Here  Schoolcraft  observed  in  1825  "still  a  dearth  of  settlements 

In  the  distance  of  twelve  miles,  there  are  but  six  farm-houses  passed."'' 
The  early  population  of  this  district  centered  about  Joachim  and  Plattin 
creeks,*  where  the  principal  farming  districts  lie.'  These  valleys  are 
also  readily  accessible  from  the  Mississippi.  The  isolated  bottoms  of 
Big  River  were  settled  after  1799  through  a  grant  which  stipulated  that 
the  settlements  should  be  fifteen  miles  from  any  previous  ones."*  The 
steepness  of  slopes  and  absence  of  desirable  residual  soils  prevented  the 
spread  of  early  settlements  beyond  the  valleys  and  kept  this  section 
from  becoming  as  well  populated  as  were  other  parts  of  the  eastern 
border  (Figs.  23,  24). 

Topography,  soils,  and  mineral  resources  determined  the  location 
of  these  well-defined  nuclei,  in  each  of  which,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Big  River  settlements,  a  community  center  developed  shortly.  Eight 
of  these  nuclei  grew  into  counties.  They  are  Cape  Girardeau-Jackson 
(Cape  Girardeau  County),  the  Barrens  (Perry  County),  Ste.  Genevieve 
(Ste.  Genevieve  County),  Murphy's  (St.  Francois  County),  Mine  a 
Breton  or  Potosi  (Washington  County),  St.  Michael's  (Madison  County), 

'  Schoolcraft,  Tour  into  the  Interior,  p.  90. 
'  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri  (1888),  p.  440. 
3  Schoolcraft,  View  of  the  Lead  Mines,  p.  51. 
■t  Van  Zandt,  op.  cit.,  p.  104. 

5  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  377-78;   Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  239. 
*  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  114.        *  Houck,  Hiit.  of  Missouri,  I,  379. 
7  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  p.  237.  »  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  236. 

^°  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jefferson  Counties  (1888),  p.  372. 


A. \f  ERIC  AN  SETTLEMENTS  109 

Greenville  (Wayne  County),  and  Joachim  and  Plattin  valleys  (Jefferson 
County).  In  each  instance  but  the  last  the  approximate  site  of  the 
pioneer  community  has  become  the  county  seat. 

SETTLEMENT   OF   THE   MISSOURI  RIVER   BORDER 

Whereas  the  Mississippi  lay  across  the  path  of  westward  migration 
and  settlements  were  made  in  its  various  parts  almost  simultaneously, 
the  Missouri  Valley  was  a  continuation  of  this  course  of  movement  and 
was  occupied  from  east  to  west. 

The  first  important  American  settlements  were  in  St.  Charles  County 
and  southern  Warren  County  and  formed  a  tongue  extending  upstream 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  Here  Daniel  Boone  and  his  colony 
located  on  the  rich  bottoms  of  Femme  Osage  Creek  in  1797.  On  Tuque 
(1799),  Charette,  and  Lost  creeks  (1801)  numerous  locations  were  made 
under  the  Spanish  authorities,  in  part  by  the  expansion  of  Boone's 
colony.  The  settlement  of  the  Femme  Osage-Charette  vicinity  consti- 
tuted the  district  of  St.  Andrews  and  was  sufficiently  important  by  1803 
to  be  noticed  in  the  account  of  the  Department  of  State  of  that  year. 
This  account  also  mentions  the  Kentucky  origin  of  the  Missouri  River 
settlements.'  The  river  margins  of  Franklin  County  had  settlers  at 
least  as  early  as  1803.^  Loutre  Island,  Montgomery  County,  a  large 
tract  of  ^Missouri  River  bottom  land,  insular  only  at  high  water,  was 
occupied  probably  in  1798,  and  a  few  years  later  had  a  sufficiently  strong 
settlement  to  withstand  serious  attacks  by  the  Indians. ^  By  1799  the 
American  settlements  above  St.  Charles  on  the  Missouri  had  taken  second 
place  among  the  districts  of  Upper  Louisiana  in  the  production  of  corn 
and  tobacco.''  Because  of  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  Indians  pioneers  for 
a  time  did  not  pass  the  Loutre,^  and  some  even  withdrew  from  their 
e.xposed  locations.* 

The  next  area  of  extensive  settlement  was  the  Boonslick  country, 
which  included,  according  to  a  definition  of  the  time,  "the  whole  tract  of 
country  comprehended  in  Cooper  and  Howard  counties,  extending  on  both 
sides  of  the  Missouri  from  the  mouth  of  the  Osage  to  the  western  Indian 
boundary,"^  but  which  was  limited  more  commonly  to  the  present  limits 

'  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana,  p.  10. 
'Hist,  of  Franklin  County  (1888),  p.  222. 

J  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  note  on  p.  134;   Bradburj',  ibid.,  V,  47. 
*  Dept.  of  State,  Account  of  Louisiana,  -App.  II. 
s  Darby,  Emigrants'  Guide,  p.  303.  *  Houck,  op.  cit.,  II,  94. 

'  Quoted  from  Franklin  (Missouri)  Intelligencer  (1819),  in  Missouri  Hist.  Rev., 
I,  311- 


no       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGH  LA  AW  OF  MISSOURI 

of  Cooper  and  Howard  counties.  Boone  came  here  at  least  as  early  as 
1807  to  make  salt.  A  permanent  settlement  was  begun  in  1810.'  The 
earliest  locations  were  at  Heath's  Creek  Salt  Springs,^  on  the  Lamine 
River  in  Cooper  County,  where  Brackenridge  describes  a  thriving 
settlement  in  1811/  and  in  Howard  County  near  New  Franklin.  Of 
these,  one  on  the  Lamine  was  the  largest,  and  extended  six  or  eight 
miles. 4  Fig.  15  shows  the  location  of  the  principal  brine  springs  in 
Cooper  County. 

The  Boonslick  country  contained  numerous  salt  springs,  good 
water,  fine  grass,  sufficient  timber  (Fig.  15),  the  largest  area  of  loess 
soils  in  the  state,  and  many  good  bottoms.  It  amply  supplied,  there- 
fore, the  necessities  of  pioneer  life.  The  fame  of  this  new  country  spread 
quickly,  and  one  of  the  most  notable  rushes  of  immigrants  in  the  annals 
of  the  state  resulted.  In  181 1  there  were  sixty  families  in  the  district. 
In  1815-16  the  county  of  Howard  was  created.  In  1816  alone  more  than 
one  hundred  families  came.^  By  181 7,  1,050  white  males  were  enumer- 
ated.^ It  was  praised  at  the  time  as  "no  doubt  the  richest  considerable 
body  of  good  land  in  the  Missouri  territory;  and  is  equal,  if  not  superior, 
to  the  best  part  of  Kentucky."^  Three  years  later  there  was  a  total 
population  of  more  than  eight  hundred  families  (Fig.  23).*  In  1835 
it  was  still  considered  "the  largest  and  most  populous  settlement  in  the 
State."'     "The  whole  current  of  immigration  set  towards  this  country. 

Boon's  Lick,  so  called Boon's  Lick  was  the  common  center  of 

hopes,  and  the  common  point  of  union  for  the  people.  Ask  one  of  them, 
whither  he  was  mo\ang,  and  the  answer  was,  'To  Boon's  Lick,  to  be 
sure.'  ....  And  thus  wave  propels  wave."'"  This  section  was  sought 
largely  by  southern  slave-owners,"  who  were  bent  on  establishing  planta- 
tions of  generous  size,  but  also  by  families  from  New  England  and  New 
York,  who  made  the  tedious  journey  by  way  of  New  Orleans." 

Two  towns  were  founded  at  an  early  date  in  the  Boonslick  country, 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  river,  nearly  across  from  each  other.  In  181 2 
Cole's  Fort  was  built,  on  the  upland  overlooking  the  Missouri  River, 

'Thwaites,  op.  cit.,  V,  note  on  p.  52. 

*  Cooper  County,  in  Encyclo.  of  Hist,  of  Missouri. 

3  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  115.         4  Ibid.  s  Darby,  he.  cit. 

<  View  of  the  U.S.A.  (London,  1820),  p.  666.  ^  Ibid. 

*  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  148-50. 
'  A.  A.  Parker,  Trip  to  the  West  and  Texas,  p.  261. 

*>  Flint,  Recollections,  p.  202.  "  Darby,  loc.  cit. 

"  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  pp.  231,  234. 


A  M  ERIC  A  N  SETTLEMENTS  1 1 1 

for  protection  against  the  Indians.'  It  became  the  town  of  Boonville 
in  1817.^  The  site  not  only  was  well  suited  to  defense  hut  formed  an 
excellent  river  harbor  and  a  place  for  transshipment  for  the  region  to  the 
west  and  south,  as  it  lies  near  the  southwestern  extremity  of  a  large 
rectangular  bend  of  the  Missouri.  The  town  of  Franklin  was  laid  out 
on  the  flood  plain  of  the  Missouri  in  1816,^  near  the  present  site  of  New 
Franklin.  In  181 8  one  of  the  three  land  offices  of  the  state  was  estab- 
lished here.^  In  less  than  two  years  the  transformation  of  a  cornfield 
had  taken  place  into  a  city  of  two  hundred  houses  with  '*a  great  number 
of  genteel  "habitations,  many  merchants'  storehouses,  a  court-house,  all 
appendages  of  a  seat  of  justice,"  and  other  improvements  of  civilization. ^ 
Both  places  became  great  distributing  points  for  emigrants,^  not  merely 
for  Boonslick  but  for  points  farther  west,  as  they  were  for  a  time  the 
westernmost  towns  of  the  Mississippi  Basin. ^ 

The  settlement  of  Boonslick  was  followed  by  the  filling  up  of 
the  country  between  it  and  the  older  settlements  to  the  east.  In 
i8n  there  were  two  families  in  the  Gasconade  region.*  By  1818 
settlements  were  strung  all  along  the  Missouri  Valley.  Deeds  from  that 
period  in  the  Gasconade  County  courthouse  record  a  lively  transfer  of 
real  and  personal  property  by  a  considerable  number  of  people.  In 
this  intermediate  region  settlements  for  some  time  were  confined  to 
the  Missouri  Valley  and  the  adjacent  loess  bluff  lands,'  as  the  equality  of 
most  of  the  uplands  was  not  such  as  to  attract  early  settlement,  and  the 
tributary  valleys  were  somewhat  isolated.  Land  values  along  the 
Missouri  in  1835  were  given  at  one  to  five  dollars  an  acre.'" 

The  rapid  influx  of  immigration  gave  rise  to  many  town  projects. 
The  town  of  Gasconade  was  laid  out,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  the 
same  name,  as  the  site  of  the  state  capital.  Osage  City  had  a  similar 
location  relative  to  the  Osage  Valley,"  and  lots  to  the  amount  of  $2o,c5oo 

^Hist.  of  Cole  County  (1888),  p.  203. 

'  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  89,  134. 

J  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  148-50. 

*  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  III,  183-84. 

s  Vinvofthe  U.S.A.  (London,  1820),  pp.  54,  680.         ^  Niles'  Register, XVI,  256. 

'  See  C.  .\.  Murray,  Travels  in  North  America  (1834-36),  p.  245,  for  an  early  correct 
estimate  of  the  relative  value  of  the  two  sites. 

*  Br'.ckenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  207. 

»  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jejferson  Counties  (i888),  p.  220. 

"Murray,  ibid.,  I,  241. 

"James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XI\',  144;   Nilcs'  Register,  LX\1I,  304. 


112        GEOGRAPHY   OF   THE  OZARK  HIGH  LAX  D  OF   MISSOURI 

to  $30,000  were  sold,  but  no  improvements  were  made/  Newport, 
seat  of  justice  of  Franklin  County,  was  located  at  the  mouth  of  Boeuf 
Creek.^  Other  towns  along  the  Missouri  River  were  Pinckney,  Thorn- 
tonsburg,  Missouriton,  Roche  au  Pierce,  and  Columbia.^  Most  of  them 
had  no  geographic  justification.  In  1819  it  was  said:  "Numerous  other 
towns,  ....  containing  from  one  to  half  a  dozen  houses  each,  are  to 
be  met  within  a  few  miles Almost  every  settler,  who  has  estab- 
lished himself  on  the  Missouri,  is  confidently  expecting  that  his  farm  is 
in  a  few  years  to  become  the  seat  of  wealth  and  business,  and  the  mart 
for  an  extensive  district."''  Almost  without  exception  these  places 
were  located  on  the  river  flood  plain  at  landings.  Consequently  they 
were  malarial, ^  subject  to  flooding,  and  in  time  most  of  them  were 
destroyed  by  the  river.  The  fate  of  Franklin  was  foretold  within 
seven  years  of  its  foundation.^  Of  the  entire  number  only  two  remain, 
Boonville  and  Jefferson  City,  both  located  on  the  river  bluffs. 

LOCATION   AND   IMPRO\  EMENT   OF   THE   HOMESTEAD 

Settlement  proceeded  by  a  rapid  and  rather  even  expansion  wherever 
the  surface  presented  only  slight  irregularities,  the  soil  was  uniformly 
good,  and  timber  was  generally  available.  This  was  the  case  in  the  areas 
of  loess,  Hagerstown,  and  Fredericktown  soils,  and  to  some  extent  in  the 
valley  of  the  Missouri.  In  the  rest  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  River 
Borders,  however,  the  progress  of  settlement  has  been  very  unequal  and 
in  some  sections  vacant  lands  existed  until  recently. 

Fig.  25  shows  the  order  in  which  land  entries  were  made  in  Osage 
County,  and  is  typical  of  a  large  part  of  this  region.  The  entries  before 
1820  comprised  all  of  the  Missouri  bottoms,  about  ten  locations  at  short 
distances  from  the  Missouri  River  on  small  creeks,  several  on  the  loess 
bluffs  adjacent  to  the  river,  and  one  on  the  Gasconade  River.  In  the 
next  decade  a  few  small  entries  were  made  on  the  Gasconade,  on  the 
smaller  creeks,  and  on  the  loess  lands,  and  the  first  one  on  Maries  Creek. 
The  increase  from  1820  to  1830  was  slow  because  of  the  attraction  of  the 
Boonslick  to  immigrants  of  this  period.  By  1840  all  of  the  desirable 
loess  land  had  been  entered,  a  great  number  of  entries  had  been  made  on 
the  creeks,  and  a  few  in  the  Osage  and  Gasconade  valleys.  By  this 
time  the  entries  outlined  the  drainage  of  the  county  in  considerable 

'Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  63.  ^  James,  op.  cit.,  p   146. 

*Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  264.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  158. 

3  Houck,  he.  cit.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  149. 


A  M ERICA  N  SETTLEMEN TS  113 

detail.  A  majority  of  these  entries  were  of  small  size,  consisting  of  from 
forty  to  eighty  acres,  and  were  located  in  small  valleys  in  which  there 
is  relatively  little  cultivable  land.  With  the  exception  of  the  river 
bluffs,  the  uplands  remained  unoccupied.  By  the  end  of  the  forties  the 
choice  ridgelands  within  fifteen  miles  of  the  river  had  been  taken  up  and 
by  another  decade  all  the  uplands  in  the  rest  of  the  county  which  were 
sufficiently  extensive  to  farm.  The  great  number  of  entries  in  the 
decade  1850-60  was  due  largely  to  the  passage  of  the  Graduation  Act, 
which  reduced  the  cost  of  land  in  accordance  with  the  length  of  time 
it  had  been  subject  to  entry.  The  entries  subsequent  to  i860  have  been 
mostly  of  rough  hillsides.  The  factors  determining  the  order  in  which 
the  land  was  entered  in  this  county  are:  (i)  accessibility,  primarily 
from  the  Missouri,  to  a  lesser  extent  from  the  Osage  and  Gasconade, 
and  later  from  the  railroads;  (2)  open  texture  of  soil  and  suitability  for 
working  with  weak  implements;  (3)  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  higher-priced 
lands  today  being  in  large  part  the  earlier  entries;  (4)  presence  of  good 
water;    (5)  timber  and  stone;    and  (6)  healthfulness. 

One  of  the  more  notable  things  about  the  early  locations  is  the  large 
number  of  small  entries  which  were  made  on  small  creeks  before  the  much- 
superior  bottom  land  on  the  larger  streams  was  occupied,  except  in  the 
Missouri  Valley,  and  also  before  the  smooth  upland  was  taken.  Except 
in  the  case  of  the  very  best  lands,  the  pioneer  used  different  standards 
than  are  employed  today  by  which  to  judge  the  merits  of  a  location. 
These  small  homesteads  on  the  "branches"  were  almost  invariably  at 
a  spring,  and  this  was  the  first  consideration  in  their  selection.  Timber 
and  stone  also  were  to  be  had  near  by  for  buildings  and  fences.  In 
most  cases  there  was  enough  arable  land  at  hand  to  grow  ''truck"  for 
the  family.  Many  of  the  early  settlers  came  from  the  hill  country  of 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  were  more  hunters  than  farmers,  and  derived 
part  of  their  support  from  the  raising  of  stock,  which  ranged  about  at 
will.  For  them  a  clearing  on  the  wooded  hillside,  close  to  the  grassy 
uplands,  was  most  desirable.  Here  game  was  secured  most  readily,  and 
here  the  cattle  and  hogs  could  find  ample  sustenance.  These  settlers 
needed  neither  much  land  nor  fertile  land.  Finally,  in  contrast  to  the 
bottom  lands,  the  hillside  clearings  had  good  water  and  good  drainage 
and  were  therefore  healthful. 

From  the  days  of  first  settlement  the  larger  bottoms  were  breeding 
places  of  malaria,  ditTering,  however,  in  the  degrees  of  the  unhealthful- 
ness.  The  Mississippi  River  bottoms,  which  had  perhaps  the  worst 
reputation,  were  low,  subject  to  llood,  and  contained  many  sloughs. 


114       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Schoolcraft  strikingly  describes  the  contrasted  conditions  of  health  in 
the  upland  of  the  mine  country  and  in  the  Mississippi  lowlands. 

Those  diseases  which  prevail  more  or  less  every  summer  on  the  American 
bottom,  and  other  rich  and  level  tracts  of  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  Indiana,  have  not 
found  their  way  into  the  interior  of  Missouri,  where  there  is  no  stagnant  water, 
no  repositories  for  mud  and  slime,  brought  down  by  the  annual  floods,  as  is 
the  case  on  the  immediate  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  other  great 
western  rivers,  and  no  pestilential  airs  from  decaying  vegetable,  and  drying 

ponds.    The  fever  and  ague  is  a  very  rare  thing  at  the  mines During 

a  residence  of  ten  months  at  the  mines,  I  have  not  witnessed  a  single  death,  or 
heard  of  any  happening  in  the  country.  At  the  same  time,  the  margin  of  the 
Mississippi,  on  both  sides,  has  been  the  scene  of  frequent  deaths,  and,  during  the 
:summer  months,  of  almost  continued  disease.^ 

Featherstonhaugh  described  the  settlers  in  the  Mississippi  bottoms 
as  follows:  "Their  sallow,  emaciated  countenances,  that  looked  dis- 
tressed by  the  monstrous  quantities  of  calomel  they  were  accustomed 
to  take,  and  the  feeble  and  uncertain  steps  with  which  they  went  about 
their  avocations,  betrayed  how  dearly  they  paid  by  the  loss  of  health 
for  the  privilege  they  enjoyed  of  occupying  a  fertile  soil."^  As  a  result 
of  the  prevalence  of  fevers  few  Americans  were  willing  at  first  to  locate 
in  the  Mississippi  lowlands,  preferring  generally  the  uplands.^  The 
lower  valleys  of  the  St.  Francois,  Castor,  and  Black  rivers  were  also  very 
unhealthful,  as  they  were  drained  poorly.  In  Greenville,  on  the  St. 
Francois,  the  first  settlers  were  said  to  be  dying  "by  inches  of  chills  and 
fevers."'* 

On  the  Missouri  River  conditions  were  somewhat  better,  as  the  land 
is  on  the  whole  higher,  and  the  river,  flowing  in  a  relatively  narrow  valley, 
has  not  developed  sloughs  to  any  great  extent.  On  this  stream  most  of 
the  undrained  depressions  are  near  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  and  these  places 
were  most  feared  by  the  settlers. s  Fevers  were  sufficiently  common  in 
the  Missouri  bottoms  so  that  immigrants  were  advised  to  avoid  them.^ 
Nearly  all  the  farmers  who  cultivated  land  on  the  flood  plain  built  their 
homes  "on  the  eminences,  rather  than  below  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
where  the  air  is  said  to  be  less  salubrious."^    The  lower  Osage  and 

'  View  of  Lead  Mines,  pp.  30-31. 

^  Excursion  through  the  Slave  States,  I,  302. 

3  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Lotdsiana,  p.  237;  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  in. 

'•  Featherstonhaugh,  op.  cit.,  I,  335. 

5  Muench,  Dcr  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  pp.  26-27. 

^  Baudissin,  Der  Ansiedler  im  Missouri  Staate,  pp.  2-3. 

'  MaximiHan,  Prince  of  Wied,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XXII,  240. 


A M ERICA  N  SETTLEMENTS  1 1 5 

Gasconade  valleys  also  had  evil  reputations.  The  scanty  settlements 
on  the  Gasconade  prior  to  1850  (Fig.  25)  are  to  be  explained  primarily 
by  the  prevalence  of  malaria.  The  fertility  of  the  river  lands  was  well 
appreciated,  but  the  fear  of  fever  kept  most  of  the  early  settlers  in  the 
more  healthful  creek  valleys.  As  a  result,  the  best  farms  of  the  northern 
border  were  along  creeks  which  had  ample  land  for  cultivation  and  for 
pasturage,  and  were  sufliciently  drained  to  be  reasonably  free  from 
fevers.^ 

The  malarial  nature  of  these  lowland  fevers  is  indicated  clearly  by 
the  statement  that  the  disease  was  generally  of  the  intermittent  kind, 
was  limited  largely  to  lowlands,  and  was  induced  "by  the  pestilential 
vapors,  which  arise  from  the  rivers,  and  from  the  decayed  vegetable 
substances."*  Most  settlers,  especially  those  from  the  North,  had  to 
undergo  a  period  of  acclimatization;  they  were  warned  that  "sooner  or 
later  comes  the  fever.  "^  The  control  of  malaria  has  been  a  slow  and 
difficult  matter.  In  181 1  it  was  observed  that  the  disease  was  due 
partly  to  decaying  vegetation.''  It  was  discovered  early  that  the  clearing 
of  the  land  reduced  the  fevers.^  Chiefly  by  thus  reducing  the  breeding 
places  of  the  mosquito  through  clearing  and  drainage  the  larger  bottoms 
have  been  made  tolerable. 

Extensive  upland  prairies  were  avoided  during  the  first  years  of 
settlement  for  the  usual  reasons.  The  earliest  settler  on  the  prairie 
in  Gasconade  County  is  said  to  have  abandoned  his  claim  owing  to  the 
absence  of  water  and  the  difficulty  he  experienced  in  breaking  the  sod.** 

The  location  for  a  home  having  been  chosen,  the  improvement  of  the 
homestead  proceeded  after  the  established  fashion.  The  help  of  the 
neighbors  was  given  freely  to  the  newcomer  in  the  erection  of  his  home 
and  in  the  clearing  of  land.  The  typical  homestead  consisted  of  a 
one-  or  two-room  log  cabin,  surrounded  by  fields  in  which  the  deadened 
trees  remained  standing.''  Many  of  the  log  houses  were  made  in  the 
Virginia  style,  consisting  of  a  double  cabin  with  an  intermediate  space 
which  was  roofed  over.  This  place  formed  a  "cool  and  airy  retreat," 
in  which  most  of  the  household  labors  were  transacted  during  the  hot 
season.*    The  furnishings  of  the  house  were  few,  simple,  and  homemade. 

'  Muench,  op.  cil.,  p.  28. 

'  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  237.  ■>  Muench,  op.  cil.,  pp.  59-60. 

*  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  in.  s  Baudissin,  he.  cil. 
'  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jejferson  Counties  (1888),  p.  620. 

7  TLxier,  Voyage  aux  Prairies  Osages,  p.  81. 

*  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  134-35. 


Il6        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK   HIGHLAND   OF   MISSOURI 

"A  four-posted  sassafras  bedstead  was  regarded  with  admiration. 
Earthenware  cups,  saucers  and  plates  were  unknown,  and  knives  and 
forks  did  not  exist  until  after  the  first  quarter  of  the  century  had  passed."' 
Most  of  the  first  settlers  had  mills  of  their  own  for  grinding  corn,  ranging 
from  hollowed-out  stumps  to  band  mills  operated  by  horse  power. ^  The 
dwelling-house  was  the  only  building  erected  at  first.  Granaries  were 
not  needed,  tools  were  too  few  to  require  a  shed,  and  stock  remained  out  of 
doors  throughout  the  year,  finding  shelter  under  trees  or  projecting  ledges 
of  rock.''  In  not  a  few  instances  the  lack  of  a  cellar  was  made  good  by  a 
cave,  in  which  "the  farmer  keeps  his  meat  or  butter  fresh  and  sweet.  "^ 
On  many  farms  a  small  springhouse,  built  of  logs  or  stone  over  a  spring, 
provided  a  cool  and  sanitary  place  for  the  storing  of  perishable  food. 
The  timber  supplied  a  great  number  of  pioneer  needs.  Furniture  was 
made  from  black  walnut,  cherry,  or  sassafras.  The  water  maple  and 
butternut  furnished  dye  for  homespuns.  From  the  sugar  maple  "long 
and  short  sweetening,"  that  is,  sugar  and  syrup,  were  made,  as  well  as 
vinegar.  In  the  hollow  trunks  of  the  sycamore  grain  was  stored.  Hick- 
ory furnished  wagon-tongues  and  handles.  Oak  was  used  for  shingles, 
boards,  cooperage,  and  wagons;  red  cedar  for  shingles,  churns,  and  chests, 
and  almost  any  long-grained  wood  for  fence  rails. ^ 

PRODUCTIVE    OCCUPATIONS 

The  activities  of  the  pioneer  were  not  directed  toward  the  production 
of  specialized  commodities.  Because  of  his  isolation  he  was  forced  to 
produce  whatever  things  were  necessary  to  the  sustenance  of  his  family, 
or  as  many  of  them  as  possible.  The  intermediate  climate  of  Missouri, 
the  favorable  association  of  forests  and  grassy  tracts,  the  abundance  of 
springs,  the  many  mill  sites,  and  the  varied  mineral  resources  enabled 
the  pioneer  in  most  localities  of  the  border  regions  to  live  in  almost  com- 
plete independence  of  the  older  sections.  This  diversity  of  resources  was 
more  important  then  than  now,  and  caused  many  sites  to  be  more  desir- 
able for  settlement  to  the  pioneer  than  they  are  to  the  farmer  of  today. 

Hunting  and  fishing.  — Few  of  the  American  settlers  were  hunters  or 
fishermen  by  avocation,  but  almost  all  of  them  supplemented  their 
living  by  these  means.  Venison,  bear  meat,  wild  turkey,  and  wild 
honey  were  an  important  part  of  the  food  supply  of  the  pioneer.*    Deer 

'  Bryan,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  IV,  89-90. 

'  James,  loc.  cit. 

3  Ibid.  sMuench,  o/>.  r;7.,  pp.  35-41. 

*St.  Louis  Republican,  November  3,  1863.        ^  Baudissin,  op.  cit.,  pp.  12-21. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  117 

were  common  along  the  Missouri  River  until  well  after  the  Civil  War. 
Fish  were  taken  in  quantity  by  nets  and  traps,  especially  on  creeks, 
in  the  backwaters  formed  by  rivers  in  flood.  Along  the  Missouri  River 
on  such  an  occasion  farmers  not  infrequently  secured  a  year's  supply 
by  salting  down  their  catch  and  packing  it  in  barrels.' 

Field  agriculture. — The  agricultural  settlers  formed  at  all  times  an 
overwhelming  majority  in  the  northern  and  eastern  border  regions. 
In  181Q  it  was  stated  that  "the  farming  class  is  by  far  the  largest; 
as  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  advantages  of  procuring  lands  on  easy 
terms,  and  in  a  mild  climate,  afford  the  strongest  and  surest  prospects  of 
gain  to  the  emigrant."* 

Agricultural  conditions  of  the  time  were  well  summarized  by  Duden, 
a  German  traveler,  who  compared  them  with  the  European  conditions. 
He  observed  the  following  points  of  contrast:  (i)  Land  was  easily 
procured,  whereas  labor  was  scarce.  (2)  Buildings  and  fences  were 
inexpensive.  (3)  Tire  only  land  fenced  was  that  from  which  stock  was 
excluded.  (4)  Stock  received  almost  no  attention.  (5)  Fertilizers 
were  not  used.  (6)  Corn  raising  was  the  basis  of  all  agriculture,  cotton 
was  produced  in  sufficient  quantity  for  home  needs,  and  tobacco  was  one 
of  the  most  important  cash  crops.  (7)  Maple  trees  supplied  the  farm 
requirements  of  sugar  and  syrup.  (8)  The  character  and  amount  of 
production  were  affected  by  the  fact  that  markets  were  for  the  most 
part  hundreds  of  miles  distant,  and  that  it  was  often  necessary  to  con- 
struct one's  own  boat  in  order  to  ship  to  market.^ 

In  variety  of  products  the  pioneer  farm  surpassed  the  farm  of  today. 
In  1 81 2  the  characteristic  products  of  the  region  were  said  to  include 
corn,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  barley,  buckwheat,  tobacco,  hemp,  cotton,  flax, 
melons,  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes,  apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  and 
berries.^  Of  these,  corn,  wheat,  cotton,  tobacco,  and  flax  were  the  more 
important. 5  The  earliest  record  of  production  by  Americans  is  a  census 
of  the  Cape  Girardeau  district  in  1803.  According  to  this  there  were 
produced  58,990  bushels  of  corn,  39,000  pounds  of  cotton,  2,950  bushels 
of  wheat,  9,200  pounds  of  flax  and  hemp,  and  19,000  pounds  of  maple 
sugar.* 

■  Mucnch,  op.  cil.,  p.  68. 

'  Schoolcraft,  Vieu'  of  Lead  Mines,  pp.  171-72. 

J  Reise  nach  den  westlichen  Slaaten,  pp.  269-71. 

*  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  pp.  227-28. 

5  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jejferson  Counties  (1888),  p.  220.  '^ 

'  Houck,  Spanisli  Regime,  II,  403-7. 


Il8       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

At  first  corn  was  produced  much  more  extensively  than  all  other 
crops,  because  (i)  it  is  equally  satisfactory  as  food  for  men  and  stock; 
(2)  it  keeps  in  the  fields  as  long  as  desired;  (3)  it  gives  large  returns  for 
the  seed  used;  (4)  it  grows  on  newly  cleared  land  which  is  too  rich  in 
humus  for  small  grains,  and  which  is  not  in  condition  to  have  the  seed 
bed  prepared  as  carefully  as  is  necessary  in  the  case  of  small  grains; 
(5)  the  climate  of  the  region  is  well  suited  to  the  production  of  corn; 
and  (6)  it  was  readily  marketable  as  whiskey.  Between  the  rows  of 
corn  a  secondary  crop  often  was  grown,  usually  pumpkins  or  beans. ^ 
Corn  was  produced  on  uplands  and  bottoms  alike.  All  the  rich  upland 
soils  were  heavy  producers.  This  is  true  especially  of  the  loess  lands 
of  Cooper  and  Moniteau  counties,  but  also  of  the  Hagerstown  and 
Fredericktown  soils.  On  the  uplands  after  a  time  other  crops  were 
introduced,  but  the  bottom  lands  almost  invariably  were  planted  to 
com  year  after  year.  Even  under  the  careless  tillage  of  the  day  they 
are  said  to  have  produced  fifty  to  sixty  bushels  an  acre.^  In  some  bottom 
fields  probably  no  other  commercial  crop  ever  has  been  produced  down 
to  the  present  day. 

The  leading  corn-producing  sections,  such  as  Cooper  County,  also 
grew  most  of  the  oats.  Because  of  the  climate  the  culture  of  oats 
never  assumed  large  proportions. 

Wheat  production  increased  rather  slowly,  and  finally  displaced 
com  only  on  certain  uplands.^  In  1840  the  yield  of  wheat  exceeded  one- 
tenth  the  yield  of  corn  only  in  Cole,  Franklin,  St.  Francois,  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve, and  Washington  counties.  It  was  at  about  this  time  that  wheat 
first  became  a  staple  crop  of  the  border  regions. "^  There  were  three 
chief  reasons  for  the  increased  interest  in  wheat-growing  at  this  period, 
(i)  The  upland  soils,  which  at  first  produced  good  corn,  became  depleted, 
especially  in  humus,  through  the  continued  cultivation  of  this  one  crop 
and  no  longer  furnished  favorable  moisture  conditions  for  corn.  The 
older  counties,  with  large  areas  of  cultivated  uplands,  therefore  first  took 
up  the  extensive  cultivation  of  wheat.  (2)  "  Many  lands,  which  formerly 
were  little  regarded  and  considered  infertile,  because  of  a  scant  growth 
of  timber,  and  yielded  only  poor  corn,  now  produce  the  most  abundant 
crops  of  wheat.  "5  At  about  this  time  the  cultivation  of  the  somewhat 
less  desirable  Union  and  Lebanon  soils  commenced,  and  these  clay  soils 
of  rather  low  humus  content  proved  well  suited  to  wheat.     These  lands 

'  Muench,  Slaat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  iii;  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  185. 
*  Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  pp.  228-29.  ''  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  112. 

i  Ibid.  s  Ibid. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  IIQ 

• 
are  usually  in  good  condition  for  the  preparation  of  the  seed  bed  in  fall, 

but  are  cold  in  spring.  They  are  therefore  wheat  Ijut  not  corn  soils. 
(3)  Many  Germans  settled  in  the  border  regions  about  the  middle  of  the 
century.  These  people  were  expert  growers  of  small  grains.  By  i860 
the  wheat  crop  in  every  county  exceeded  10  per  cent  of  the  corn  crop, 
except  in  Cooper,  Moniteau,  and  Morgan  counties,  which  were  located  in 
the  region  of  the  most  extensive  loess  soils.  In  Perry  and  Ste.  Genevieve 
counties  the  value  of  the  wheat  crop  equaled  or  exceeded  that  of  corn. 
In  Ste.  Genevieve,  Perry,  and  Cape  Girardeau  counties  the  Springfield 
soils,  previously  little  desired,  had  been  found  peculiarly  adapted  to  the 
raising  of  wheat.*  Similarly,  on  the  Hagerstown  soil  of  the  same  section, 
wheat  was  found  to  grow  unusually  well.  In  these  three  counties,  there- 
fore, wheat  growing  became  increasingly  important.  The  city  of  Cape 
Girardeau  became  a  milling  center  of  note,  which  took  highest  honors  on 
its  flour  at  three  international  exhibitions  in  one  decade.*  At  present 
much  of  the  Hagerstown  soil  of  Cape  Girardeau  County  is  "tired,"  as 
the  farmer  puts  it,  from  several  generations  of  dominant  wheat  farming. 
Tobacco  was  a  most  valuable  export  crop^  because  it  had  least  bulk 
and  commanded  a  good  and  fairly  steady  price.  Its  cultivation  was 
aided  by  the  following  facts:  (i)  It  was  most  profitable  on  newly  cleared 
ground,  of  which  there  was  an  abundance  for  many  years.  (2)  The 
early  settlers  came  mostly  from  tobacco-growing  sections  and  were 
skilled  in  its  production.  (3)  Slave  labor  was  employed,  especially  on 
the  river  bottoms,  in  the  laborious  task  of  cultivation.  The  early  inter- 
est taken  in  this  crop  is  shown  by  an  act  passed  in  1821-22,  which  pro- 
vided for  county  inspection  in  order  to  control  the  quality  of  the  leaf. 
In  1824  thirty-eight  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  grown  in  the  Boonslick 
country,  were  sold  in  New  York.''  Other  sections  that  were  known  at 
an  early  date  for  the  quality  and  quantity  of  their  product  were  Ste, 
Genevieves  and  Perry  counties.*^  Loutre  Island  was  also  one  of  the 
famous  producing  sections,  and  its  tobacco  planters  were  among  the 
most  aristocratic  citizens  of  the  state.  Its  plantations  were  said  to 
resemble  those  of  the  southern  states  in  point  of  luxury.^  In  1840 
Franklin,  Cape  Girardeau,  Cole,  and  Cooper  counties  each  produced  in 
excess  of  100,000  pounds.     In  1850  Franklin  and  Cooper  counties  alone 

'  Eighth  Ann.  Rcpl.,  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  p.  410. 

'Handbook  of  Missouri  (1881),  p.  105. 

i  Beck,  Gazetteer  (1823),  pp.  186,  228.  s  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  251. 

*  Niles'  Register,  XXVI,  150.  *  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  144. 

^Zimmcrmann,  in  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  XX,  40. 


I20       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


• 


{ 


remained  in  this  class.  In  i860  Franklin,  with  792,000  pounds,  pro- 
duced ten  times  as  much  as  the  next  Ozark  county.^  In  1866  tobacco 
still  was  considered  the  great  money  crop  of  Franklin  County,  and  from 
one  to  three  "barns"  were  raised  on  every  average  farm.^  The  con- 
centration of  this  industry  in  Franklin  County  appears  to  have  been 
due  principally  to  an  early  immigration  of  tobacco  planters,  largely  from 
Virginia.  The  tobacco  grown  in  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  River 
counties  was  the  principal  factor  in  making  St.  Louis  a  tobacco  market 
and  later  a  manufacturing  center.  Although  tobacco  has  almost  dis- 
appeared from  the  farms  of  Missouri,  St.  Louis  is  still  one  of  the  first 
tobacco  centers  of  the  United  States. 

Tobacco,  produced  On  the  bottom  lands,  yielded  a  heavy  or  "ship- 
ping" lead,  and  on  newly  cleared  uplands,  especially  on  "  dog-wood  land," 
a  lighter  leaf  of  higher  quality.^  On  the  upland  both  yield  and  quality 
decreased  with  each  crop,  and  after  two  or  three  crops  were  grown  the 
land  usually  was  planted  to  corn  and  another  tobacco  patch  was  cleared. 
The  decadence  of  the  tobacco  industry  was  due:  (i)  primarily  to  the 
lack,  after  a  time,  of  newly  cleared  land;  (2)  as  shipping  facilities  were 
provided,'  other  lower-priced  agricultural  products  became  profitable; 
(3)  most  of  the  later  immigrants,  coming  from  Germany  or  the  northern 
states,  did  not  know  how  to  raise  tobacco,  and  many  of  the  old  tobacco 
planters  moved  away. 

At  the  outset  cotton  was  produced  in  every  section,  from  the  margins 
of  the  southeastern  lowlands  to  the  Boonslick."  Some  cotton  was  grown 
in  the  Missouri  River  Border  even  after  the  Civil  War.^  In  1873  Cape 
Girardeau  still  shipped  2,500  bales. ^  On  the  whole,  however,  cotton 
belonged  to  the  pioneer  period  and  was  produced  chiefly  for  household 
use.  The  region  in  general  is  too  far  north  for  the  commercial  production 
of  cotton,  the  crop  being  "sometimes  destroyed  by  early  frosts. "^ 
When  railroad  transportation  supplied  manufactured  cloths  cheaply, 
its  production  declined  and  after  a  time  ceased,  except  in  the  extreme 
South.  Hemp  and  flax  were  introduced  into  Missouri  by  planters 
from  Kentucky.     Both  were  grown  by  slave  labor  on  the  river-bottom 

'  Census  of  1840,  1850,  i860. 

^  Agric.  Rept.  of  Missouri  (1866),  p.  251.  ■J  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  118. 

^  Darby,  Emigrants'  Guide  (1818),  p.  304;   Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  186. 

s  First  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.  of  Missouri,  Appendix,  p.  56. 

*  Prospectus  of  Illinois,  Missouri  and  Texas  Railroad,  p.  9. 

'  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  186;   see  also  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  pp.  144-45. 


A  M ERICA N  SETTLEMENTS  1 2 1 

lands,  especially  in  Boone  County  and  farther  west,  where  they  consti- 
tuted large  and  profitable  crops.  The  industry  was  ruined  by  the  Civil 
War  and  by  foreign  competition.'  These  three  textile  fibers,  once 
constituting  some  of  the  most  important  crops  of  the  Ozark  Border,  are 
at  present  unknown  in  this  region,  except  as  garden  curiosities. 

Among  the  early  "agricultural"  products  maple  sugar  often  is  men- 
tioned. Sugar  maples  were  very  common  in  the  bottoms.  When  the 
land  was  cleared  for  a  farm,  a  grove  or  "camp"  of  these  trees  usually 
was  allowed  to  remain.  Not  only  were  the  household  needs,  said  to 
average  a  hundred  pounds  a  year  per  family,^  thus  supplied,  but  a  con- 
siderable surplus  was  exported.     "  Some  families  would  make  as  much  as 

i,ooo  pounds  per  year This  was  exchanged  at  ten  cents  per 

pound  for  dry  goods.  "^  When  southern  sugar  entered  the  local  market, 
the  industry  declined-*  and  the  groves  were  largely  cut  out  to  make  room 
for  fields. 

Stock  raising. — As  long  as  a  large  part  of  the  region  was  unoccupied, 
stock  raising  probably  gave  the  largest  returns  with  least  expense  and 
effort.  In  1812  it  was  said  that  the  cattle  "in  summer  subsist  on  the 
grass,  with  which  the  country  is  covered;  and  in  the  winter  they  retire 
to  the  bottoms,  where  they  find  plenty  of  cane  and  rushes. "^  The 
swine  "subsist  on  the  mast  found  in  the  woods;  and  hence  both  the 
cattle  and  swine  keep  fat  most  of  the  year.  No  hay  is  necessary,  except 
for  such  cows  and  horses  as  are  stabled,  and  plenty  of  this  is  always  to 
be  obtained  in  the  proper  season  from  the  prairies.  The  high  grounds 
are  seldom  so  thickly  covered  with  wood  as  to  prevent  the  growth  of  grass. 
They  exhibit  more  the  appearance  of  extensive  meadows  than  of  rude  and 
gloomy  forests."^  The  ease  of  raising  stock  has  been  described  by 
Schoolcraft  as  follows: 

The  farmer  here  encloses  no  meadows — cuts  no  hay.  The  luxuriant  growth 
of  grass  in  the  woods  affords  ample  range  for  his  cattle  and  horses,  and  they  are 
constantly  kept  fat.  Hogs  also  are  suffered  to  run  at  large,  and  in  the  fall 
are  killed  from  the  woods;  I  have  seen  no  fatter  pork  than  what  has  been  killed 
in  this  way.     There  is,  perhaps,  no  country  in  the  world,  where  cattle  and  hogs 

can  be  raised  with  so  little  expense  and  trouble  as  here Horses  are 

raised  in  considerable  numbers  by  the  inhabitants  generally,  and  with  little 

'  De  Bow,  Industrial  Resources,  etc.,  of  Ifte  Southern  and  Western  Slates,  II,  60. 
'  Duden,  Reisc  nach  den  wesllichen  Slaaten,  p.  68. 

J  Broadhead,  Repls.  Geol.  Surv.  of  Missouri  (1855-71),  pp.  59-60.      *  Ibid. 
s  Stoddard,  Sketcfies  of  Louisiana,  p.  229.  '  Ibid. 


122        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

labor.  They  subsist  themselves  in  the  woods,  both  summer  and  winter, 
nothing  more  being  required  than  to  look  after  them,  to  see  that  no  bells  are 
lost,  that  they  are  duly  salted,  and  that  they  do  not  go  astray.' 

In  a  new  region,  abounding  in  grass  and  water,  the  raising  of  stock 
was  a  matter  of  Arcadian  simplicity  at  first  and  of  considerable  profit 
as  well.  The  raising  of  cattle  was  most  extensive  in  the  northwestern 
counties  of  the  Ozarks,  where  the  most  corn  was  grown,^  and  in  the  south- 
western counties,  which  had  the  most  free  range,  that  is,  the  largest 
areas  of  unoccupied  grasslands.  Boonville  as  the  principal  river  port 
for  both  sections  became  an  important  live-stock  market  and  developed 
a  meat-slaughtering  industry.  After  i860  there  was  a  gradual  decline 
in  the  number  of  cattle  kept,  which  has  continued  until  recently.  This 
was  primarily  the  result  of  the  continued  decrease  of  the  grazing  area 
with  increasing  settlement.  The  beginning  of  the  decline  coincides  with 
the  opening  of  the  first  railroads.  With  the  building  of  railroads  grain 
could  be  marketed  profitably,  and  it  was  no  longer  necessary  to  drive  the 
products  of  the  farm  to  a  distant  market  in  the  form  of  stock.  In  the 
second  place,  the  German  immigrants,  whose  influence  became  dominant 
in  the  northern  and  eastern  borders  after  1850,  have  paid  little  attention 
to  cattle  raising  until  recently. 

Sheep  were  not  kept  in  large  numbers.  The  physical  conditions  of 
the  country  were  suited  to  them,  but  they  fell  prey  to  wolves  and  dogs, 
and  the  wool  of  the  unconfined  sheep  became  so  fouled  as  to  be  worth 
little.^  In  this,  as  in  other  regions,  sheep-raising  without  herding  has 
not  proved  suited  to  pioneer  conditions. 

Mule  breeding  in  America  has  been  developed  most  highly  in  central 
Missouri,  especially  in  the  river  counties.  The  industry  began  early,  the 
census  reports  from  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  showing  the 
largest  number  of  mules  in  these  counties  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Spring- 
field. By  the  middle  of  the  century  the  exportation  of  mules  to  the 
South,  especially  to  the  sugar  plantations,  had  become  a  well-established 
and  flourishing  business.''  Mule  breeding  in  Missouri  appears  to  have 
originated  through  the  Santa  Fe  trade,  which  had  its  eastern  termini  on 
the  lower  Missouri  River.  One  of  the  earlier  Santa  Fe  trading  parties 
returned  to  Old  Franklin  in  1823  with  400  jacks,  jennets,  and  mules,  an 
extraordinary  importation  for  the  time.^    This  may  have  been  the  begin- 

'  View  of  Lead  Mines,  pp.  34-35. 

^  Oelshausen,  pp.  163,  166;   Third  Ann.  Agric.  Repl.  of  Missouri,  p.  321. 

^  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  71;  Muench,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  156. 

t  Muench,  op.  oil.,  p.  149.  s  Niles'  Register,  XXV,  230. 


A  M  ERIC  A  N  SETTLEMENTS  1 23 

ning  of  mule  breeding  in  Missouri.  At  any  rate,  for  many  years  not 
only  the  Santa  Fe  traders  but  most  travelers  to  the  west  and  southwest 
secured  their  animals  from  Missouri  River  points.  Parties  also  were 
fitted  out  at  Springfield.  These  expeditions,  whenever  possible,  used 
the  hardier  mules  in  preference  to  horses,  and  thus  created  a  brisk  local 
demand,  which  resulted  in  extensive  breeding  of  mules.  Later,  as  the 
demand  from  this  source  decreased,  that  from  the  southern  plantations 
increased,  and,  since  the  region  had  established  itself  substantially  in 
the  industry,  it  continued  to  supply  the  new  market.  The  Boonslick 
countr}'  is  probably  still  the  first  mule-raising  region  of  the  world. 

Lead  mining. — The  stimulus  which  lead  mining  derived  from  Ameri- 
can immigration  was  the  result  of  the  increased  number  of  workers  who 
became  available,  of  the  greater  energy  which  they  displayed,  and  of  the 
more  advanced  views  which  they  held.'  As  a  result  there  was  a  notable 
increase  in  the  discovery  of  ore  bodies,  improvement  in  the  methods 
employed,  and  enlarged  production.^ 

The  figures  given  by  Winslow^  as  the  total  production  of  lead  for 
the  state  to  the  year  i860  are  shown  below.  The  lead  produced  in 
Missouri  between   1800  and   1859  was  worth  $16,318,000  and  came 


1 7 20-1 799. 
i§cx>-i8i9. 
1820-1829. 
I 830-1 849. 
1850-1859. 


18,000  tons 
25,300  tons 
19,100  tons 
73,400  tons 
51,100  tons 


$1,800,000 
2,280,000 
1,908,000 
6,604,000 
5,526,000 


almost  entirely  from  the  eastern  and  northern  borders.  During  this 
period  Washington  County  yielded  $6,193,000,  St.  Francois  $3,204,000, 
Madison  (Mine  La  Motte)  82,028,000,  and  Jefferson  $929,000.  In  the 
Missouri  River  Border,  Franklin  County  with  $1,648,000  was  the  most 
important  producer,  Moniteau  ranking  second  with  $108,000. •» 

As  long  as  mining  was  limited  to  the  residual  ore,  secured  by  digging 
shallow  pits,  Washington  County,  with  its  large  areas  of  red  limestone 
basins,  maintained  its  supremacy.  The  life  of  a  given  "  mine  "  was  short; 
but  the  decrease  at  one  mine  was  made  good  by  new  discoveries.     Mine  a 

'  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  20. 

'The  principal  changes  in  method  were  (i)  the  introduction  of  the  reverbatory 
furnace,  (2)  the  sinking  of  shafts  into  bedrock,  and  (3)  the  manufacture  of  sheet  lead 
and  of  shot  from  shot  towers  (Schoolcraft,  op.  cil.,  pp.  19,  138-39). 

1  Winslow,  Missouri  Geol.  Stirv.,  VII,  especially  p.  540.  *  Ibid. 


124       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Breton,  opened  in  1796,  was  reported  nearly  abandoned  in  181 1,  but  in 
that  same  year  there  were  five  other  locahties  with  operating  mines  in 
the  county,  each  of  which  produced  100,000  to  600,000  pounds  of  lead.' 
After  1830  rich  deposits  were  found  in  the  northern  border,  in  Franklin 
County,  and  later  in  Moniteau  and  Morgan  counties.^  The  develop- 
ment of  shallow  deposits  continued  at  widely  scattered  places  to  the 
Civil  War.  In  1863  the  first  shafts  were  sunk  in  the  disseminated  lead 
deposits  of  the  Bonne  Terre  field^  and  inaugurated  the  modern  period  of 
lead  mining  in  southeast  Missouri.'* 

The  number  of  workers  fluctuated  greatly. ^  In  the  twenties  mining 
languished,  as  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  Galena,  Illinois,  mines  on 
the  upper  Mississippi  caused  a  large  part  of  the  miners  to  withdraw  from 
this  region.^  As  the  miners  were  paid  according  to  their  output,  a  diminu- 
tion in  production  was  attended  by  an  exodus,  which  became  speedy  and 
unceremonious  if  a  promising  discovery  at  another  place  was  announced.' 
The  population  therefore  was  extremely  unstable,  and  the  habits  of  the 
miners  reflected  their  uncertain  condition.  "The  digging  itself  is  a 
species  of  gambling,  and  there  are  few  miners  who  are  not  addicted  to 
this  practice."^  The  social  consciousness  of  such  a  fluctuating  popula- 
tion necessarily  was  slight,  and  lawlessness  and  violence  in  personal 
relations  were  common.'  In  their  working  relations,  however,  the  need 
of  security  early  made  itself  felt  in  "traditionary  laws,  which  have  so 
many  years  governed  the  community  of  miners,  that  like  the  Stannary 
laws  of  Cornwall,  they  are  become  prescriptive  rights. "'° 

The  miners  were  recruited  from  four  classes:  (i)  Many  of  the  indige- 
nous French  engaged  by  preference  in  this  pursuit,  and  in  fact  continue  to 
do  so  to  this  day.  (2)  Agriculturists  of  the  mine  region  devoted  part  of 
their  time  to  digging  for  lead,"  usually  to  the  injury  of  their  farms.  It 
was  said  that  increase  of  mining  led  invariably  to  a  neglect  of  agriculture." 

'  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  pp.  151-54. 

^  Meek,  Ann.  Repts.  Missouri  Geol.  Sun.,  II,  116;  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines, 
Ser.  2,  VII,  66. 

3  Second  Ann.  Repl.,  Trustees  St.  Joseph  Lead  Co.,  p.  9. 

4  Stevens,  Missmiri,  the  Center  State,  I,  49^50. 
s  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  pp.  1 13-14. 

*  Amer.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  V,  347;  De  Bow,  Industrial  Resources,  II,  63. 

7  Flint,  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  302. 

8  Ihid.  »  Schultz,  Travels,  II,  52-53. 
"  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  p.  2S7.                  "  Ibid. 

"  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  38, 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  125 

Miners  were  known  to  have  earned  thirty  dollars  a  day  for  several 
weeks.'  Farming:;  offered  no  such  prizes,  and  the  farmer  was  level- 
headed indeed  who  was  not  tempted  from  his  plow  by  such  alluring,  if 
temporary,  gain.  (3)  ''A  large  proportion  of  those  formerly  engaged 
in  mining  were  persons  of  the  most  abandoned  character,  refugees  from 
justice  in  the  old  States."^  (4)  ''A  considerable  proportion  of  these 
emigrants  are  indigent  Europeans,  who,  having  no  capital  to  set  up 
their  trades  ....  have  been  directed  to  the  mines."'' 

As  long  as  mining  was  prosecuted  in  primitive  fashion  there  was 
little  permanent  settlement.  The  two  principal  exceptions  are  Potosi 
and  Mine  La  Motte.  The  latter  has  been  a  village  of  some  note  for  a 
long  period,  solely  because  of  the  extraordinary  productivity  of  the  mine 
at  this  place,  which  has  yielded  rich  returns,  under  various  systems  of 
mining,  almost  continuously  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  Potosi, 
the  center  of  the  Washington  County  mines,  added  to  its  mining  inter- 
ests the  manufacture  of  sheet  lead  and  of  shot,-*  and  also  became  the 
trade  center  for  the  basin  of  the  rich  Fredericktown  soils  in  which  it  lies. 5 

As  Ste.  Genevieve  was  not  the  nearest  river  port  for  most  of  the  later 
mines,  and  as  many  steep  hills  intervened,  another  outlet  on  the  river 
was  opened  at  Herculaneum.*  The  road  from  Potosi  to  Herculaneum 
followed  the  easy  grade  of  Joachim  Valley,  which  was  also  a  more 
direct  line  between  the  mines  and  the  river.  In  1819  Herculaneum  was 
said  to  ship  half  the  lead  of  the  state,^  and  Ste.  Genevieve  suffered  con- 
siderably through  its  competition.  Herculaneum  possessed  another 
advantage  over  its  rival  in  its  river  bluffs,  which  were  utilized  as  shot 
towers,  the  melted  lead  falling  nearly  300  feet.^  For  a  time  the  village 
prospered  and  was  one  of  the  more  important  trading  centers  of  the 
Mississippi  River  Border.'  Later  the  small  landing  of  Selma,  just 
below  Plattin  Creek,  also  became  an  important  shipping  point.'" 

'  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  395. 

*  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  39.         ■>  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  p.  287. 

*  Austin,  in  Amer.  Stale  Papers,  Public  Lands,  I,  209. 
5  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  48. 

'  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  p.  245. 

'  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  1 20. 

*  Brackenridgc,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  131;  Tixier,  Voyage,  p.  76;  Flint,  Recol- 
lections, p.  lOI. 

»  Schoolcraft,  F/ru'  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  48;   De  Bow,  Industrial  Resources,  II,  63. 
^0  Amer.  State  Papers,  Public  iMnds,  IV,  558;    Shumard,  Ann.  Repts.  Missouri 
Geol.  Surv.,  II,  147. 


126       GEOGILiPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Iron  mining. — Iron  ore  was  known  in  the  St.  Francois  region  before 
the  American  period.  Probably  its  first  use  was  at  the  "shut-in"  of 
Stout's  Creek,  near  Ironton.  Here  a  small  furnace  was  built  in  1815, 
which  used  ore  from  Shepard  JSIountain,  wood  from  the  adjacent  hills, 
and  made  bar  iron  by  water  power.'  Its  product  found  ready  local 
sale,  but  the  difficulty  of  transportation  prevented  extensive  production. 
There  existed  also  an  early  prejudice  that  the  ore  was  not  suitable  for 
smelting,  and  this  had  to  be  overcome  before  development  on  a  large 
scale  could  be  imdertaken.^ 

Capital  became  interested  in  Iron  Mountain  in  1836,  mining  began 
in  1844  or  1845,  and  the  first  furnace  was  put  in  blast  in  1846.3  Super- 
ficial explorations  had  been  made  of  this  ore  body,  and  it  was  thought  to 
be  a  mountain  of  nearly  pure  ore.i  Early  skepticism  gave  place  to 
wildest  enthusiasm.  In  1846  it  was  declared  that  Iron  Mountain  and 
Pilot  Knob  "have  enough  material  in  their  bowels  to  supply  the  world 
for  a  century.  "5  The  original  company  of  1836  proposed  to  pay  its 
investors  $108.50  annually  for  every  Si 00  invested.^  Pilot  Knob  was 
bought  originally  for  $18,000;  six  acres,  used  as  a  town  site,  sold  a  few 
years  later  for  $50,000.  An  offer  of  $3,000,000  was  made  for  the  Iron 
Mountain  property,  which  was  said  to  be  worth  $5,000,000,000 !  Accord- 
ing to  the  authority  for  this  statement,  it  was  a  "national  injustice,  that 
three  men  should  own  a  treasure  nearly  sufficient  for  a  continent. "^ 

Limestone  for  flux  could  be  had  near  by.  The  forested  knobs  sup- 
plied fuel  for  the  blast.  At  first  the  ore  was  smelted  at  the  mines, 
and  at  Valle(y)  Forge  in  St.  Francois  County,  which  made  iron  blooms. 
This  forge  was  on  the  direct  road  to  the  river,  had  both  limestone  and 
fuel,  and  was  able  therefore  to  have  the  ore  brought  to  it.*  The  pig  iron 
was  hauled  to  Ste.  Genevieve,  the  nearest  river  port,  at  one-fourth  of  a 

'  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  304. 

'  Litton,  Ann.  Repis.  Missouri  Geol.  Sttrv.,  II,  75. 

3  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  305. 

*  See,  for  instance,  Barker,  History  of  All  the  Western  States,  p.  439. 
s  Hunt's  Merchants'  Magazine,  XVI,  94. 

'  Prospectus  of  Missouri  Iron  Company,  1837. 
7  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  PP-  50~5i- 

*  "The  forge  was  located  near  Farmington  for  the  reason  that  wood  was  plenty  in 
the  vicinity.  Fuel  getting  in  the  early  days  of  iron  making  was  a  problem  even  more 
vexing  than  the  transportation  question.  Vast  quantities  of  charcoal  were  used  in 
the  furnaces.  To  keep  up  the  supply  the  company  bought  tracts  of  land  solely  to 
acquire  the  tunber  on  them"  (Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  196). 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  127 

cent  a  pound.'  Even  at  this  cost  the  industry  was  profitable,  as  the 
demand  for  iron  was  great,  and  the  only  competition  was  from  Ohio  and 
Tennessee  furnaces,  which  were  said  to  yield  iron  of  inferior  quality.^ 
The  iron  industry  again  restored  to  some  extent  the  fortunes  of  Ste. 
Genevieve,  which  did  a  thriving  business  at  shipping  Missouri  pig  iron 
to  points  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio  rivers. ^ 

The  remote  location  of  the  mines  presently  made  improved  trans- 
portation facilities  a  necessity.  The  first  improvement  was  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Ste.  Genevieve,  Iron  Mountain,  and  Pilot  Knob  Plank  Road 
in  1853.^  It  was  estimated  that  by  the  increased  loads  which  could  be 
hauled  this  road  would  reduce  the  cost  of  a  ton  of  iron,  delivered  at 
Ste.  Genevieve,  from  $18.72  to  $16.00.5  Before  the  completion  of  the 
plank,  road  steps  were  taken  to  build  a  railroad  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
iron  and  lead  region.  As  early  as  1837  ''the  importance  of  bringing, 
with  cheap  transportation  to  St.  Louis,  the  iron  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Iron  Mountain,  as  the  true  foundation  for  future  and  permanent 
growth  of  St.  Louis,"  had  been  recognized.^  A  charter  was  granted  to 
the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  in  1851,  "on  condition  that 
the  road  be  located  within  five  miles  of  Potosi,  the  center  of  the  lead 
diggings."^  St.  Louis  at  that  time  is  said  to  have  sent  out  $1,500,000 
annually  to  pay  for  iron  products  sold  there,  in  addition  to  the  cost  of 
the  pig  metal  used  locally.  By  constructing  this  road  it  was  hoped  that 
the  city  would  develop  its  own  foundries,  rolling  mills,  and  nail  factories, 
which  would  drive  out  articles  manufactured  elsewhere.*  The  greatest 
of  St.  Louis'  expectations,  in  1854,  was  the  manufacture  of  iron.' 
Accordingly  the  support  of  St.  Louis  was  assured  to  the  railroad  project 
from  the  outset.     The  road  was  completed  as  far  as  Pilot  Knob  in  1858.'° 

By  1865  there  had  been  built  as  a  result  of  the  railroad,  in  addition 
to  the  six  furnaces  and  bloomeries  at  the  mines,  one  at  Irondale,  and  one 
at  Carondelet,  adjoining  St.  Louis."     Before  1850  the  total  production 

■  Hunt's  Merchants'  Mag.,  XVI,  95. 

'  Engineer's  Kept.,  Secand  Ann.  Repi.  Board  of  Directors  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron 
Mountain  Railroad,  p.  25. 

J  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  III,  242. 

*  Ibid.,  X,  424.  s  Ibid.,  VIII,  139. 

'  Second  Ann.  Rcpt.  Board  of  Directors  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad, 
p.  14. 

"  Ibid.  »  Stevens,  Missouri,  tltc  Center  Stale,  I,  2CX5. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  22-23.  '"  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  306. 
"Hunt's  Merchants'  Mag..  LIII,  335. 


128       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

of  iron  ore  in  Missouri  had  been  about  100,000  tons.  In  the  following 
decade,  during  which  the  railroad  was  opened,  the  first  large  develop- 
ment of  the  Iron  Mountain  district  took  place,  and  the  production  for 
the  decade  was  310,000  tons.  In  the  sixties  the  tonnage  doubled, 
amounting  to  625,000,  and  in  the  year  1870  316,000  tons  were  produced 
in  the  state.^  Of  the  total  output  of  the  state  to  this  date  the  Iron 
Mountain  district  yielded  more  than  nine-tenths.  Two  flourishing 
towns  sprang  up,  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob.  The  people  of  the 
neighborhood  flocked  in  to  work  in  the  iron  mines,  even  as  they  had  left 
their  farms  in  lead-mining  booms.^  Immigrants  from  abroad  were  also 
attracted,  especially  the  English  and  Germans.  In  Iron  Mountain 
there  were  as  many  as  a  thousand  operatives  at  a  time.  The  new 
railroad  diverted  the  shipping  business  from  Ste.  Genevieve  to  St.  Louis, 
which  also  developed  an  important  iron  industry.  By  the  middle  of 
the  century  the  furnaces  at  the  mines  were  beginning  to  feel  the  exhaus- 
tion of  wood  fuel  and  the  lack  of  coal.^  St.  Louis  therefore,  which  had 
coal  near  at  hand,  received  larger  and  larger  shipments  of  ore  and  corre- 
spondingly smaller  shipments  of  pig  iron,  the  proportion  in  1875  being 
three  to  one.''  As  late  as  1880  an  orator,  eulogizing  St.  Louis,  named  it 
"the  city  of  the  Iron  Crown."s 

Production  averaged  somewhat  less  than  300,000  tons  of  ore  per 
year  until  1887,^  after  which  there  was  a  rapid  decrease  due  to  the  mining 
of  the  cheap  ores  of  the  Lake  Superior  district  and  to  the  partial  exhaus- 
tion of  local  deposits. 

Other  industries. — Manufactures  other  than  those  of  mineral  products 
were  few,  small,  and  supplied  pioneer  needs,  or  produced  a  compact 
article  for  export.  Grist  mills  were  one  of  the  earlier  necessities  of 
pioneer  communities.  They  were  operated  usually  by  water  power.  It 
was  a  matter  of  little  difficulty  to  build  a  log  or  masonry  dam  across  the 
smaller  creeks  and  so  to  impound  enough  water  to  operate  a  mill  wheel. ^ 
Bryan,  of  the  Femme  Osage  Colony,  had  erected  such  a  water  mill  by 
1 80 1.*  In  1823  there  were  nine  grist  mills  in  Cape  Girardeau  County, 
which  ground,  in  that  year,  61,675  bushels  of  grain;  at  the  same  time 
mills  in  Jefferson  County  used  30,000  bushels;  there  were  also  five  mills 

'  Winslow,  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  II,  324. 

^Hunt's  Merchants'  Mag  ,  XVI,  94.  ^  Muench,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  49. 

^  Allen,  Missouri,  a  Discourse  at  the  Centennial  Exposition,  p.  20. 

5  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  p.  201.      *  Winslow,  loc.  cit. 

7  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jeferson  Counties,  p.  220. 

*  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  p.  115. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMEXTS  129 

in  Ste.  Genevieve  County  and  two  in  Madison.'  In  1827  Cooper  County 
had  ten  mills.^  Many  mills  did  custom  carding  and  supplied  the  house- 
wife with  rolls  for  her  spinning  wheel.''  These  water  mills  also  sawed 
timber  for  local  use. 

Distilling  on  a  commercial  scale  was  introduced  into  the  region  by 
Americans,  who  had  found  it  the  only  feasible  means  of  marketing 
grain  from  the  frontier.  A  considerable  part  of  the  whiskey  was  sold 
at  St.  Louis  for  the  Indian  trade.''  Israel  Dodge  built  a  still  near  Ste. 
Genevieve  in  1795.^  Another  was  erected  between  Plattin  and  Joachim 
creeks  in  1801.^  In  1823  Cape  Girardeau  had  thirty-one  stills  produ- 
cing 17,800  gallons  of  distilled  spirits;  Jefferson  County  made  29,000 
gallons;  Madison  3,800;  and  Ste.  Genevieve  converted  $900  worth  of 
grain  into  whiskey  worth  $1 1,912. ^  The  census  of  1840  listed  thirty- 
five  stills  in  Cape  Girardeau  County,  eight  in  Cooper,  eight  in  Madison, 
seven  in  Cole,  and  smaller  numbers  in  the  other  counties. 

A  number  of  other  industries  converted  bulky  products  of  the 
frontier  into  artiples  sufficiently  valuable  to  bear  cost  of  transportation 
to  distant  markets.  Hides  and  oak  bark  supplied  the  requisites  for  the 
tanning  of  leather.  In  1823  Cape  Girardeau  County  had  four  tanyards,* 
while  Cooper  County  had  seven  in  1827.'  According  to  the  census  of 
1840,  there  were  in  Cape  Girardeau  County  twelve,  in  Cole,  Franklin, 
and  Perry  each  four,  in  St.  Francois  five,  and  in  Washington  County 
three,  tanyards.  Hemp  was  made  into  tow  cloth  and  ropes, ^°  used  largely 
in  river  shipping,  at  rope  walks  in  Ste.  Genevieve  and  Franklin."  A 
tobacco  factory  was  organized  at  Franklin  in  1821." 

TRADE   AND   TRANSPORTATION 

This  region  produced  an  unusually  large  number  of  the  necessities 
of  pioneer  life:  flour,  meal,  meat,  lard,  sugar,  and  salt  for  the  table,  wool, 

'  Digest  of  Accounts  of  Manufacturing  Establishments  (Washington,  D.C.,  1823). 

'  Tax  list  in  Missouri  Hist.  Soc.  MSS. 

^  Third  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.  of  Missouri,  p.  320. 

*  Stoddard,  Sketclies  of  Louisiana,  p.  228. 

s  Record  Books,  Secretary  of  State,  Survey  Xo.  2067. 

<"  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  II,  258. 

'  Digest  of  Accounts  of  Manufacturing  Establishments. 

« Ibid. 

»  Ta.x  list  in  Missouri  Hist.  Soc.  MSS. 

'"  Schoolcraft,  Viru<  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  172. 

"  Houck,  op.  cit.,  Ill,  187.  "  Ibid. 


no       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


cotton,  and  flax  for  cloth,  leather  for  shoes  and  harness,  wood  for  many 
purposes,  iron  for  the  blacksmith's  needs,  and  lead  and  gunpowder  for 
hunting.  The  articles  therefore  which  had  to  be  imported  were  few. 
These  were  principally  manufactured  goods,  such  as  cutlery,  nails, 
tools,  plow  irons,  glassware,  drugs,  dry  goods,  and  some  groceries.' 
Lead,  salt,  iron,  whiskey,  flour  and  grain,  tobacco,  live  stock,  and  animal 
products  were  the  principal  articles  of  export.^  For  all  of  these  there 
was  satisfactory  demand  ordinarily.  These  articles  also  possessed  the 
merit  of  being  marketable  under  the  tedious  and  careless  methods  of 
transportation  then  in  use.  The  city  of  St.  Louis,  the  lead  mines,^ 
and,  later,  the  iron  mines,  absorbed  part  of  the  surplus,  especially  of 
agricultural  products.  The  greatest  commercial  asset  of  the  region  was 
its  water  routes,  which  provided  transportation  in  all  four  directions  of 
the  compass.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  commercial  situation  was 
advantageous. 

Trade  was  carried  on  at  first  chiefly  by  the  producers,  who  took  their 
surplus  to  market  and  returned  with  goods  in  exchange.''  Gradually 
methods  changed  with  the  development  of  a  class  of  professional 
merchants. 

Before  the  introduction  of  steam,  navigation  was  principally  by 
boats  of  three  types:  canoe,  flatboat,  and  keelboat.  Canoes  or  piroques 
were  small,  narrow  boats,  made  in  various  ways,  and  were  used  especially 
on  the  smaller  streams.  Perhaps  the  crudest  type  was  the  hollow  syca- 
more log,  its  ends  chinked  up  with  clay,  used  by  Boone  in  shipping  salt 
down  the  Missouri. ^  Flatboats,  built  of  heavy  sawed  planks,  were 
employed  as  in  other  parts  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  to  conve}^  goods 
downstream,^  usually  to  Nev/  Orleans,  where  both  cargo  and  craft  were 
sold.  Keelboats  were  superior  to  the  other  types,  for  they  were  often 
of  larger  capacity  and  could  be  propelled  upstream. '  Because  of  their 
unwieldy  nature  and  their  weak  motive  power  all   these  craft  were 

'  Schoolcraft,  op.  cil.,  pp.  44-45. 

=  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  156;  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana, 
p.  214;  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jefferson  Counties,  p.  220;  Darby,  Emigrants''  Guide, 
p.  142;    View  of  the  U.S.A.  (London,  1820),  p.  668. 

^  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  p.  38;  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  168. 

•*  Stoddard,  op.  cit.,  p.  23c. 

s  Cooper,  in  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  242. 

'  Niles'  Register,  XXI,  336. 

'Hall,  The  West,  Its  Commerce  and  Navigation,  pp.  111-14. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  131 

difficult  to  handle  in  narrow,  swift,  or  sinuous  parts  of  the  river 
channel.' 

The  first  steamboat  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  above  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio  arrived  at  St.  Louis  in  181 7. ■*  The  swift  current  of  the  Missouri 
and  its  more  difficult  channel  made  it  appear  questionable  whether  that 
stream  could  be  navigated  by  steam.^  The  question  was  answered  in 
1819,  when  the  "first  steamboat  landed  at  Franklin.''  On  the  Mississippi 
steam  navigation  was  established  securely  within  a  brief  period. ^  On  the 
Missouri  the  development  of  steamboating  was  slower,  due  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  stream  and  the  stage  of  development  of  the  region.  On  both 
streams,  but  more  especially  on  the  Missouri,  cheaply  constructed  rafts 
and  fiatboats,  floating  dowTistream,  laden  with  produce,  were  familiar 
sights  for  years  after  steam  navigation  was  introduced.^  Parker,  in  1835, 
reported  passing  hundreds  of  them.^  In  that  year  there  were  two  boats 
making  regular  trips  between  St.  Louis  and  Franklin  on  the  Missouri.* 
In  1836  there  were  140  arrivals  of  steamboats  at  Rocheport,  Boone 
County,  by  September  8.'  In  1854  more  than  300  steamers  a  year  were 
said  to  have  landed  at  Boonville,  which  by  this  time  had  become  the 
most  important  river  port  above  St.  Louis.'" 

The  introduction  of  the  steamboat  increased  the  efficiency  of  the 
larger  water  routes  greatly  and  thereby  improved  economic  conditions 
along  them,  (i)  The  cost  of  transportation  was  reasonable.  In  1831 
freight  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans  was  37^  cents  per  one  hundred 
pounds,  return  rate,  62^  cents;   from  Franklin  to  St.  Louis,  25  cents, 

'  Several  rocky  narrows  on  the  Mississippi  were  feared  especially  by  early  boat- 
men, notably  those  of  Grand  Tower  above  Cape  Girardeau  (Hall,  Statistics  of  the  West, 
pp.  48-49;  Schultz,  Travels,  II,  81-85;  Fl^gg,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XXVI,  89; 
also  note  by  editor  on  same  page).  This  "is  a  noble  and  massive  pyramid  of  rock, 
rising  perpendicularly  out  of  the  bed  of  the  river,  in  which  it  forms  an  island.  Around 
it  the  river  foams  and  boils,  throwing  from  its  base  a  kind  of  spiral  current  across  the 
river.  Opposite  'the  Tower'  is  another  bold  blufif,  on  the  Illinois  shore,  called  the 
'  Devil's  Oven.'  This,  too,  throws  off  another  sweeping  current,  and  between  these 
currents  the  passage  is  difficult,  and  at  some  stages  of  the  water,  dangerous"  (Hint, 
Recollections,  p.  95).  The  (Grand)  Chain  of  Rocks  at  Commerce  was  another  danger- 
ous obstruction  (Schultz,  Travels,  II,  82,  85). 

'  Carr,  Missouri,  p.  132.  *  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  I,  310. 

3  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  III,  198.        s  Schoolcraft,  Viru>  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  44. 

'Baudissin,  Der  Ansiedler  im  Missouri  Staate,  p.  26. 

7  Trip  to  the  West  and  Texas,  p.  93.  »  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  44. 

*  Bromme,  Missouri,  p.  39.  »<»  Oelshausen,  Stoat  Missouri,  p.  163. 


132       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

return,  75  cents.''  Especially  the  competition  of  the  flatboat  reduced 
the  downstream  freight  rates.  Cabin  passage  from  St.  Louis  to  New 
Orleans  in  1831  was  $20.00;  return,  $25.00.  Deck  passage  was  only 
$5.00,  but  involved  the  obligation  of  carrying  wood  on  board.  The 
rates  varied  with  the  season,  the  depth  of  the  water,  and  with  other 
conditions,*  and  they  usually  were  less  on  the  Mississippi  than  on  the 
Missouri  because  of  greater  competition  on  the  former.  (2)  A  regular 
shipping  business  was  created,  which  freed  the  shipper  from  the  task  of 
taking  his  own  goods  to  market,  as  had  been  necessary  previously  in  most 
cases.  (3)  By  providing  a  means  of  passenger  transportation  the  steam- 
boat increased  immigration.  (4)  Prices  improved,  partly  because  of  the 
increased  demands  of  immigrants,  partly  because  of  the  reduced  cost 
of  marketing.^  (5)  As  a  result  of  the  latter,  there  was  an  increase  not  only 
in  the  volume  of  trade  but  in  the  number  of  commodities  which  were 
produced.  Especially  as  St.  Louis  developed  into  an  irnportant  market 
products  of  the  most  varied  sort  were  shipped  into  it  from  the  surround- 
ing region.''  (6)  River  landings  became  flourishing  centers  of  trade. 
On  the  Mississippi  the  growth  of  Cape  Girardeau  was  stimulated,^  and 
on  the  Missouri  that  of  Boonville,  Franklin,  and  Jefferson  City.  Steam- 
boat landings  which  had  a  large  tributary  territory  soon  developed  into 
towns  of  importance,  such  as  Washington  and  New  Haven  in  Franklin 
County.  (7)  A  considerable  number  of  people,  living  along  the  rivers, 
supported  themselves  by  supplying  the  steamboats  with  fresh  provisions 
and  with  cordwood.^  (8)  The  steamboat  formed  a  link  in  the  Santa  Fe 
trade.'' 

During  the  period  in  which  traffic  was  by  river  New  Orleans  was  the 
great  market  of  the  region.  Most  bulky  commodities,  such  as  groceries, 
were  shipped  by  this  port.*  The  next  largest  trade  was  with  the  East  by 
way  of  the  Ohio.  Lead  and  salt  especially  were  exported  over  this  route.' 
Because  of  the  limited  market  which  New  Orleans  afforded  and  the 
difficulty  and  expense  of  shipping  bulky  goods  across  the  Appalachian 
Mountains,  a  circular  trade  developed.  According  to  Schoolcraft,  "lead 
is  taken  down  the  Mississippi  in  boats  to  New  Orleans,  and  there  either 

'  Baudissin,  loc.  cit.  '  Ibid. 

3  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  148;  Bek,  German  Settlement  Soc, 
pp.  68-69. 

*  Ann.  Rev.  Comm.  St.  Louis  (1854),  p.  4. 

s  Flagg,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XXVI,  87;  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  51. 

*  Baudissin,  op.  cit.,  p.  30.  *  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  p.  44. 

'  See  p.  134.  '  Stoddard,  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  p.  230. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  133 

sold,  or  shipped  to  Philadelphia  or  New  York.  The  dry  goods  with  which 
this  country  is  supplied  are  principalh^  purchased  at  Philadelphia,  and 
waggoned  across  the  Alleghany  Mountains  to  Pittsburgh,  and  thence 
taken  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi  in  boats."'  Another  account 
states  that  "the  merchants  at  that  early  date  made  all  their  purchases  of 
dry  goods  in  Philadelphia  and  of  groceries  in  New  Orleans.  They  went 
to  Philadelphia  once  or  twice  a  year,  proceeding  up  the  Ohio  by  way  of 
Pittsburgh,  thence  by  stage  on  the  National  Road  to  destination.  Their 
purchases  were  then  shipped  around  to  New  Orleans  and  reforwarded 
by  boat  up  the  Mississippi  River.  "^ 

Land  travel  consisted  largely  of  short  wagon  hauls  from  interior 
points  to  river  ports.  The  roads  from  the  lead  mines  to  the  river  were 
established  in  this  way.^  Little  care  was  expended  on  roads.  They 
were  located  along  high  ground  if  possible  to  secure  good  drainage.  The 
construction  of  a  road  consisted  merely  in  the  felling  of  enough  trees  to 
enable  the  passage  of  a  wagon,  or  in  the  blazing  of  a  trail, 'f  and  in  general 
it  was  found  cheaper  to  make  a  new  road  than  to  repair  an  old  one.^ 
Bridges  were  almost  unknown,  although  the  region  contains  many 
streams.^  After  1850  plank  roads  were  constructed  along  a  few  lines 
of  heavy  travel.  The  difficulty  of  ascending  the  Missouri  led  to  the 
opening  of  an  important  road  between  St.  Louis  and  the  BoonsHck, 
to  the  north  of  the  broken  country  along  the  Missouri.  This  is  now  the 
great  cross-state  highway,  still  known  as  the  "Boonslick  Road." 
Another  important  form  of  land  traffic,  which  involved  considerable 
distances,  was  the  driving  of  large  droves  of  mules,  horses,  and  other 
live  stock  to  distant  markets,  especially  to  the  Red  River  and  other 
southern  points.^ 

The  most  famous  overland  trade  of  the  state  was  that  with  Santa 
Fe,  which  later  contributed  greatly  to  the  growth  of  the  cities  on  the 
Missouri-Kansas  border.*  This  trade  had  its  origin  in  Franklin,  where 
the  first  important  e.xpedition  was  assembled  in  1822'  by  a  company  from 
the  Boonslick.  Their  first  venture  showed  the  feasibility  of  the  route; 
they  found  the  country  to  the  southwest  open  and  level  and  abounding 

'  Schoolcraft,  loc.  cil.  '  Souvenir  of  Ste.  Genevieve. 

*  See  p.  84;  Hisi.  of  Franklin  and  Jeferson  Counties,  p.  394. 

*  Baudissin,  op.  cil.,  p.  31.  *  Schoolcraft,  Travels,  p.  238. 

*  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  42;  Houck,  Hist,  of  Missouri,  I,  371. 
7  Schoolcraft,  Vird'  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  35. 

*  See  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  VI,  i,  and  Missouri  Hist.  Coll.,  II,  No.  6. 
»  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  86. 


134       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

in  the  grass  necessary  to  sustain  their  teams. ^  Because  of  the  strong 
contrast  in  climate,  the  difference  in  mineral  resources,  and  the  remote- 
ness of  Sante  Fe  from  manufacturing  districts,  the  trade  was  prosecuted 
successfully  from  the  outset.  Santa  Fe  supplied  the  Missouri  country 
with  specie,  mules,  and  skins,^  and  received  in  return  in  the  main  manu- 
factured articles,  which  were  brought  up  the  river  from  St.  Louis. 
Whiskey,  it  is  averred,  was  an  important  item;  it  was  bought  from 
Missouri  distilleries  at  40  cents  a  gallon,  diluted  with  an  equal  volume  of 
water,  and  sold  in  Taos  for  three  dollars.^  Both  Franklin  and  Boonville 
soon  were  engaged  largely  in  this  traffic.  These  towns  lay  so  far  west 
that  routes  from  there  to  the  southwest  avoided  the  rugged  hill  sections 
of  the  Ozarks.  Their  situation  on  the  extremity  of  a  bend  to  the  south- 
west of  the  Missouri  River  made  them  two  of  the  nearer  river  ports  to  the 
Santa  Fe  country. 

As  time  passed  roads  and  rivers  inevitably  became  insufficient 
for  the  needs  of  the  growing  region.  Canals  were  out  of  the  question 
for  most  parts  of  the  Ozarks  because  of  topographic  conditions.  Spo- 
radic efforts  were  made  to  improve  the  smaller  rivers,  so  as  to  render  them 
more  useful.''  Adequate  improvement  of  transportation  conditions, 
however,  waited  on  the  construction  of  railroads. 

Railroads  were  built  parallel  to  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers 
almost  simultaneously.  In  contrast  to  most  early  railroads,  local 
needs  were  not  the  determining  factor  in  the  construction  of  the  Missouri 
Pacific  Railroad.  The  road  was  planned  as  a  great  trunk  line  to  con- 
nect the  Far  West  with  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In  1849  a  bill  was 
'^  introduced  into  the  United  States  Senate  "to  provide  for  the  location 
and  construction  of  a  Central  National  Road  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to 
the  Mississippi. "5  St.  Louis  was  then  the  first  gateway  of  the  West 
because  of  its  position  at  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  River,  and  was 
chosen  as  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  road.  From  here  it  was  built 
along  the  flood  plain  of  the  Missouri  River,  reaching  Jefferson  City  in 
1856.^  Beyond  Jefferson  City,  because  of  the  changed  direction  of  the 
river  and  the  lower  elevation  of  the  upland,  the  railroad  in  pursuance  of 
its  westerly  course  left  the  valley.     As  the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad 

^Niles'  Register,  XXIIl,  177. 

'Ibid.,  XXV,  230;  XXVIII,  356;  XXIX,  100,  127-28. 

sTurley,  in  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  I,  125. 

'^  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  I,  52;  IV,  178-82. 

5  Geol.  Rept.  of  the  Southwest  Branch  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  p.  iii. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  XV. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  135 

passed  through  what  was  then  the  best-developed  part  of  the  state,  its 
completion  was  not  followed  by  large-scale  immigration  nor  radical 
economic  changes.  It  traversed  a  fairly  wealthy  section  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  country  was  developing  and  in  which  there  was  most 
traffic.  It  therefore  enjoyed  a  large  business  from  the  outset  and  soon 
supplanted  the  Missouri  River  as  the  leading  artery  of  commerce  across 
the  state. 

The  Iron  Mountain  Railroad,  begun  in  1853^  and  opened  to  De  Soto 
in  1857,^  was -built  for  two  principal  reasons:  (i)  As  suggested  by  its 
name,  to  be  a  ''means  of  bringing  into  active  and  extensive  usefulness 
the  ores  of  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob";^  (2)  to  establish  rail 
connections  ''south  to  some  point  on  the  Mississippi  below  the  influence 
of  low  water  in  summer,  or  the  effect  of  ice  in  winter."''  Between  St. 
Louis  and  Helena,  Arkansas,  it  was  claimed,  "navigation  in  summer  is 
sometimes  embarrassed  by  low  water  and  sandbars;  and  in  the  winter- 
time, it  is  frequently  obstructed  by  floating  ice."^  It  also  was  argued 
that  this  route  would  enable  St.  Louis  to  establish  trade  relations  with 
Europe  by  way  of  the  Gulf  more  advantageously  than  through  the  Atlan- 
tic ports.*  (3)  Another  reason  is  suggested  by  the  requirement  of  the 
charter  that  it  be  so  located  as  to  serve  the  lead-mining  region  of  Potosi. 
To  reach  the  iron  and  lead  deposits  a  difficult  route  through  the  crystal- 
line knobs  was  taken,  which  would  not  have  been  necessary  otherwise.' 
Access  to  the  St.  Francois  region  was  secured  by  ascending  Joachim  Creek 
for  almost  its  entire  length.  The  road  today  carries  neither  iron  nor 
lead  in  important  amounts,  but  it  still  follows  the  route  imposed  by 
these  resources  of  a  past  day.  The  road  was  completed  first  to  Pilot 
Knob,  with  a  branch  to  Potosi.  Its  principal  freight  consisted  of  metals 
and  metallic  ores,  in  the  order  given  in  the  table  (p.  136).  Lumber  also 
was  carried  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  as  the  road  passed  through 
a  very  poor  agricultural  area,  except  for  the  basins  of  Fredericktown 
soils,  the  shipments  of  farm  products  were  small. 

In  part  because  of  heavy  operating  expenses  through  the  hilly  region, 
the  limited  demand  for  the  few  commodities  produced  in  its  territory, 

'  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  X,  424. 

'  Fiflh  Ann.  Rept.,  Board  of  Directors  of  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  Railroad, 
P-  5- 

J  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  VII,  296. 

*  Fifth  Ann.  Rept.,  Board  of  Directors,  p.  14. 
s  Waterhouse,  Resources  of  Missouri,  p.  63. 

*  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  VII,  294-95.  ^  Ibid.,  VIII,  408-22. 


136       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

and  the  fact  that  the  iron  deposits  did  not  equal  the  expectations  that 
had  been  held  of  them,  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  was  unable  to  meet  its 
expenses  so  long  as  its  terminus  was  at  Pilot  Knob.  It  therefore  became 
a  necessity  to  extend  it  south  into  more  productive  territory.^  Several 
places  competed  for  the  terminus  of  the  extension,  chiefly  Belmont, 
Missouri,  Memphis,  Tennessee,  and  Helena,  Arkansas.  A  memorial 
from  the  citizens  of  Memphis  argued  that  "Memphis  is  at  the  head  of 
perpetual  navigation  on  the  Mississippi.  There  the  river  has  never  been 
obstructed  within  the  memory  of  any  living  soul.  It  always  is  navigable 
for  the  largest  class  of  steamers.  At  Columbus  [opposite  Belmont], 
however,  such  an  event  is  not  a  phenomenon.  The  river  has  been  gorged 
with  ice  for  days  together."^  Belmont,  however,  across  the  river  from 
the  northern  terminus  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad,^  was  chosen 

PRINCIPAL  FREIGHT  CARRIED  IN  1874-76* 


Pounds  in  1874 


Pounds  in  1875 


Pounds  in  1876 


Iron  ore '. 

Pig  and  bloom  iron .... 
Lead,  zinc,  and  iron  ore. 
Barytes 


234,818,000 

30,182,000 

17,916,000 

5,360,000 


240,981,000 

24,155,000 

21,930,000 

5,381,000 


239,118,000 

20,145,000 

24,162,000 

4,961,000 


*  Summarized  from  directors'  reports. 


ultimately  in  1867  because  it  was  the  shortest  line  which  would  connect 
with  a  channel  supposedly  navigable  the  year  around,  as  well  as  with  a 
railroad  to  the  South.  The  interest  of  St.  Louis  was  enlisted  by  the 
argument  that  the  new  IlHnois  Central  Railroad  was  bringing  Chicago 
as  close  to  Cairo  as  St.  Louis  then  was  by  the  water  route.  The  remedy, 
it  was  pointed  out,  would  be  found  in  the  construction  of  the  Belmont 
branch.4  The  line  was  built  in  1868,  beginning  at  the  place  where  Bis- 
marck was  laid  out  in  that  year.s  The  road  never  realized  the  expecta- 
tions of  its  promoters,  as:  (i)  its  terminus  was  an  obscure  river  town; 
(2)  it  was  necessary  to  ferry  across  the  river  all  goods  intended  for  further 
rail  transportation;  (3)  it  connected  with  an  independent  railroad  sys- 
tem, which  soon  extended  its  terminus  to  St.  Louis;  (4)  the  shortness 
of  the  haul  between  St.  Louis  and  Belmont  made  it  unprofitable  gener- 

^  Seventh  Ann.  Rept.,  Board  of  Directors,  p.  5. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  14.  3  Waterhouse,  op.  cit.,  p.  53. 

*  Bucklin,  Reconnaissance  of  a  Route  for  the  St.  Louis  and  Columbus  Railroad. 

s  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri,  p.  446. 


AMERICAN  SETTLEMENTS  137 

ally  for  commodities  shipped  by  river  to  break  bulk  there.  The  road 
affected  Cape  Girardeau  adversely  by  cutting  off  most  of  its  hinterland. 

A  few  years  later  the  main  line  of  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad  was 
extended  south  from  Pilot  Knob  down  the  Black  River  Valley,  and  so 
into  Arkansas  and  the  Southwest,  and  became  one  of  the  more  important 
trunk  lines  entering  St.  Louis.  As  a  result  of  this  extension  Poplar 
BlutT  became  important,  and  lesser  centers,  such  as  Piedmont,  Ironton, 
and  Williamsville,  developed. 

Because  of  the  accessibility  of  these  border  regions  from  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Missouri  rivers,  railroad  construction  stimulated  rather  than 
revolutionized  development.  It  aided  especially  the  development  of 
crop  growing  at  the  expense  of  stock  farming,  the  establishment  of  a 
/.arge-scale  lead  industry,  and  the  rapid  exploitation  of  timber  resources. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN 

ROUTES   OF   IMMIGRATION  AND  PIONEER   LOCATIONS 

The  western  border  of  the  Ozarks,  although  more  favored  in 
resources,  was  settled  many  years  later  than  the  eastern  and  northern 
borders.  The  reasons  were:  (i)  The  region  lies  two  himdred  miles 
west  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  it  therefore  had  to  wait  until  emi- 
gration had  moved  well  beyond  this  river.  (2)  It  was  accessible  by  no 
large  streams,  the  only  navigable  ones  being  the.  Osage,  White,  and 
Neosho.  All  of  these  are  small  and  connect  with  the  Mississippi  by 
very  circuitous  routes.  (3)  To  the  east  is  the  rough  Ozark  hill  country, 
which  was  a  barrier  to  direct  immigration.  (4)  The  region  was  mostly 
prairie  and  hence  was  not  considered  desirable,  nor  was  it  generally 
suited  to  early  settlement.  (5)  Its  great  mineral  wealth  was  not  known 
until  after  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  earlier  settlements  were  on  the  headwaters  of  the  White  River. 

The   first   permanent   location   on  record  was  at  Delaware  town,  on 

the  James  fork  of  White  River  in  Christian  County,  seven  miles  east  of 

Billings.     Here  a  small  community  was  formed  in  1822  by  a  number  of 

■^^ -•  /  ^  families  which  had  "left  their  homes  in  Ohio,  traveling  in  a  keel  boat 

down  the  Muskingum,  Ohio,  and  Mississippi  rivers,  to  the  mouth  of  the 
-o^Jt^  Arkansas,  thence  ascending  that  river,  the  White  River  and  James 

Fork."'  Their  line  of  approach  is  a  fair  example  of  the  devious  routes 
by  which  settlers  reached  the  region.  The  first  settler  in  Newton 
County  likewise  came  from  the  South,  probably  by  the  Neosho  River, 
having  started  from  Tennessee  and  followed  the  Arkansas  River  up- 
stream.^ The  southern  margin  of  the  Springfield  Plain  received  the 
earliest  settlers  because  (i)  the  White  and  Neosho  River  country  had  an 
excellent  reputation  for  game.  Thus  the  "country  of  the  Six  Bulls" 
(corrupted  from  boils,  or  springs)  was  known  in  Tennessee  about  1820 
as  a  famous  hunting-ground.^  (2)  At  some  seasons  the  navigation  of  the 
White  and  of  the  Neosho  was  not  a  difficult  matter.  (3)  The  Arkansas 
Valley  was  settled  at  an  early  date  and  from  it  settlements  extended  up 

^  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  137. 

^  Hisl.  of  Newton  and  Lawrence  Counties,  p.  218.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  197. 

138 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN  139 

its  tributaries.  The  White  River  Valley  afforded  splendid  sites  for  home- 
steads. Due  to  the  form  and  size  of  the  valley  these  were  not  numerous, 
however,  and  so  a  thin  chain  of  settlement  extended  upstream  rapidly. 
The  southern  margin  of  the  Springfield  Plain  was  most  accessible  from 
Tennessee,  which  was  the  source  of  the  great  majority  of  the  early  immi- 
grants. 

Another  early  route  into  this  region  followed  the  even  crest  of  several 
long  divides  across  the  Ozarks.  This  formed  a  continuous  upland  trail, 
except  at  the  crossing  of  the  Gasconade.'  Later  it  became  an  important 
highway  from  St.  Louis  to  Rolla,  Lebanon,  Marshfield,  Springfield, 
Mount  Vernon,  and  Neosho,^  and  still  later  it  was  followed  closely  by  the 
St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  Railroad.  A  third  line  of  immigration, 
used  more  largely  than  the  last,  skirted  the  northwestern  margin  of  the 
Ozark  hill  country  and  used  either  the  Osage  River  or  overland  trails  from 
Jefferson  City  and  Boonville.  The  first  land  travel  in  the  northern  sec- 
tion of  the  Springfield  Plain  was  around  the  Osage-Gasconade  hill  belt 
by  the  Missionary  Trail  from  Jefferson  City  to  an  Indian  mission  at 
Harmony  in  Bates  County,  established  in  1821.3 

The  Osage  River  had  been  used  by  French  traders  at  an  early,  un- 
known date,  and  subsequently  by  American  hunters.  Beginning  about 
1830  it  became  an  artery  of  immigration.  By  1837  keelboats  of  forty 
tons'  burden  had  been  taken  up  the  Osage  well  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Springfield  Plain.''  Warsaw  is  the  oldest  and  was  long  the  largest  town 
on  the  river.  It  developed  from  Bledsoe's  Ferry,  established  in  1831,5 
and  was  long  second  in  importance  only  to  Springfield  among  the  com- 
munities of  southwest  Missouri.  The  town  was  ordinarily  at  the  head 
of  navigation  for  steamboats,  and  here  as  well  all  land  travel  to  and 
from  the  Missouri  River  crossed  the  Osage.  The  roads  from  Boonville 
to  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  and  from  Jefferson  City  to  Bolivar  and  Spring- 
field ran  southwest  from  the  Missouri  River  so  as  to  avoid  the  rough 
Osage-Gasconade  hills,  and  crossed  the  river  at  this  point/'  Warsaw 
thus  became  a  distributing  point,  at  first  for  the  immigration  bound  for 
the  northern  section  of  the  Springfield  Plain  and  later  for  the  trade  of 
this  region. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  218-19. 

»  Broidhead,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  VIII,  91. 

^  Campbell,  Gazcllccr,  p.  389;   Parker,  Missouri  as  1 1  Is,  p.  184. 

*  Wetmore,  Gazcllccr,  p.  40. 

s  Encyclopedia  of  Ihe  History  of  Missouri:   Benton  County. 

'  Broadhead,  loc.  cit.;  Wetmore,  lac.  cit. 


I40       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF' MISSOURI 

The  earlier  settlements,  as  in  most  other  prairie  regions,  were  located 
in  valleys  at  the  edge  of  the  timber.'^  One  of  the  early  settlers  thus 
expressed  the  condition  which  determined  the  choice  of  a  location: 
"No  man  in  those  days  would  settle  in  this  country  unless  he  had  a 
spring  of  running  water.  The  next  thing  of  importance  to  him  and  for 
which  he  sought  was  timber,  and  coming  from  a  woodland  country  in 
Tennessee  and  North  Carolina,  where  they  didn't  know  how  to  make  a 
field  unless  they  hewed  it  out  of  the  forest,  they  would  go  down  on  a 
spring  branch  and  clear  three  or  four  acres  for  a  field,  which  would 
cost  them  more  labor  than  it  would  have  to  build  a  forty-acre  field  in  a 
prairie."^  As  late  as  1839  the  following  opinion  was  expressed  by  an 
intelligent  traveler:  "The  land  is  cultivable  only  along  the  water  courses. 
The  farther  one  penetrates  westward,  the  more  arid  the  soil  becomes, 
and  soon  the  lands  which  produce  trees,  ....  alone  are  suited  to  agri- 
culture: the  finer  the  forests  are,  the  richer  is  the  ground;  but  in  the 
prairie,  cultivation  is  no  longer  possible."^ 

Springfield,  settled  in  1822-23,  became  the  most  flourishing  town  on 
the  western  border.''  It  was  located  on  the  margin  of  Kickapoo  Prairie, 
one  of  the  finest  and  largest  bodies  of  farm  land  in  the  Ozarks,  and  con- 
trolled the  trade  of  this  prairie.  The  site  of  the  village  was  determined 
by  an  excellent  spring  and  power  site.  Here  also  the  roads  from  Warsaw 
and  St.  Louis  crossed,  the  former  skirting  the  western  margin  of  the  dis- 
sected country,  the  course  of  the  latter  determined  by  watersheds,  both 
meeting  at  Springfield  because  of  topographic  conditions. 

NATIVITY   OF   THE   EARLY   SETTLERS 

The  pioneer  stock  of  the  Springfield  Plain  was  much  like  that  of  the 
other  border  sections.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  region,  previous  to 
the  development  of  mining,  Tennesseeans  were  strongly  preponderant. ^ 
In  1888  a  biography  of  settlers  of  Newton  County  listed  forty-eight 
natives  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky  being  the  second  state,  with  twenty-two.*^ 
This  was  also  the  only  part  of  Missouri  in  which  natives  of  Arkansas 

'Hubble,  Personal  Reminiscences  of  Springfield,  p.  25;  Encyc.  of  the  Hist,  of 
Missouri:   Barry  County;   Campbell,  Gazetteer:   Cedar,  Christian,  Dade  counties. 

'  Hubble,  op.  cit.,  p.  23. 

3  Tixier,  Voyage,  p.  88.  *  Hubble,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 

5  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  76;  Hubble,  op.  cit.,  pp.  6,  7,  11,  14,  19;  Encyc.  of  the 
Hist,  of  Missouri:  Lawrence  County. 

*  Hist,  of  Newton  and  Lawrence  Counties. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN  141 

were  met  with  to  any  extent.'  The  nativity  of  the  people  of  the  southern 
section  was  influenced  by  the  White  and  Neosho  rivers  as  dominant 
routes  of  immigration. 

PIONEER   OCCUPATIONS 

The  pioneers  were  for  the  most  part  farmers,  who  distinguished  them- 
selves from  their  contemporaries  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  borders 
by  greater  attention  to  stock  raising.^  An  emigrant's  guide  of  1849 
recommended  the  region  ''only  to  those  who  wish  to  raise  cattle  on  a 
large  scale.  "^  Cattle  and  corn  were  the  principal  products  of  this 
region,  which  as  early  as  1832  was  said  to  export  the  meat  of  thousands 
of  cattle  annually .■•  By  1850  Greene  County  had  more  cattle  and  more 
hogs  than  any  other  Ozark  county  and  ranked  second  in  sheep.  The 
census  of  that  year  shows  that  more  cattle  were  kept  in  this  section  of 
Missouri  than  in  any  other  in  proportion  to  the  acreage  of  improved 
land.  The  importance  of  the  stock  industry  was  due  chiefly  (i)  to  the 
distance  to  market,  the  lack  of  transportation  faciHties,  and  the  fact 
that  stock  could  transport  itself.  Cattle  were  driven  from  Lawrence 
County,  for  example,  not  only  to  St.  Louis,  but  even  to  New  Orleans.^ 
(2)  Animal  products  formed  a  stable  and  concentrated  article  of  export, 
for  which  there  was  demand,  especially  in  the  southern  markets,  and  they 
could  bear  the  cost  of  long  wagon  hauls  and  boat  transportation  under 
the  inexpensive  method  of  stock  raising  then  practiced.  Salt  meats, 
cured  hides,  tallow,  and  lard  figure  prominently  in  the  early  exports.* 
In  1854  the  exports  of  Warsaw  were:  bacon,  11,994  pes.;  hams,  204  cks.; 
shoulders,  159  cks.;  lard,  630  bbls.;  pork,  200  bbls. ;  150  hides;  leather, 
30  rolls;  wheat,  5,550  bu.;  deerskins,  144  bales;  2,230  furs;  beeswax, 
2,^  bbls.^  (3)  As  long  as  settlements  were  confined  to  the  margin  of  the 
prairies  every  farmer  had,  almost  at  his  back  door,  excellent  and  abun- 
dant pasturage.  (4)  Moderate  winter  temperatures  and  light  snowfall 
made  it  unnecessary  to  house  stock.  (5)  The  grass-growing  clay  soils 
were  not  immediately  available  for  cultivation,  because  the  first  settlers 

'  Biographical  lists  in  Hist,  of  Newton  and  Lawrence  Counties;  Encyc.  of  the  Hist, 
of  Missouri:  Dade  County. 

'  Compendium  of  the  sixth  census. 

J  Schmolder,  Wcgueiscr  fiir  Auswandcrer,  p.  96. 

^  Oelshausen,  Staat  Missouri,  pp.  167,  168,  169,  170;  Baird,  I'/cu'  of  ValUy  of 
Mississippi,  p.  240. 

s  First  Ann.  Agric.  Rcpt.  of  Missouri,  App.,  p.  86. 

'  Baird,  loc.  cit.  '  .4mm.  Rev.  Comm.  St.  Louis  (1854),  p.  52. 


142       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF   MISSOURI 

did  not  possess  the  necessary  equipment  for  cultivating  them.  (6)  Corn, 
abundantly  produced  by  the  rich  soil,  was  used  to  best  advantage  in  the 
feeding  of  stock. 

As  in  the  other  sections  of  the  highland,  corn  was  by  far  the  most 
important  crop.  Greene  County  tripled  its  production  of  corn  between 
1840  and  1850,  and  in  the  latter  year  led  all  Ozark  counties.  The  Spring- 
field soil  quickly  showed  its  adaptation  to  corn  culture.  Whatever 
prejudice  against  prairies  existed  at  the  outset  was  dispelled  quickly  by 
the  magnificent  crops  of  this  grain  which  they  grew.  "Whoever  has 
seen  Kickapoo  and  Grand  Prairies  in  their  pride  and  the  crops  which  the 
farmers  grew  upon  them  will  not  doubt  that  here  it  is  good  to  live."' 
Crops  were  on  the  whole  less  diversified  than  in  the  other  border  sections. 
Wheat  was  not  grown  extensively  in  early  years  because  adequate 
markets  for  it  were  lacking.  Tobacco  was  not  an  important  crop, 
probably  because  of  the  lack  of  virgin  woodland  soil.  The  region 
was  too  remote  to  attract  wealthy  planters  and  therefore  the  culture 
of  hemp  and  flax  was  not'  developed  largely. 

Mills  were  erected  under  advantageous  conditions,  as  there  were 
many  streams  of  moderate  size,  of  steady  flow,  and  of  vigorous  current, 
due  to  the  number  of  large  springs  and  the  elevation  of  the  region.  The 
first  grist  mills  probably  were  built  at  the  beginning  of  the  decade  from 
1830  to  1840.^  By  1840  there  were  more  than  a  score  of  grist  mills  and 
a  number  of  saw  mills,-5  especially  in  the  pine  forests^  on  the  headwaters 
of  White  River.s  By  this  time  also  a  few  tanneries  had  been  established, 
and  five  counties  had  sixteen  distilleries.^ 

The  greater  part  of  the  Springfield  Plain  had  the  Missouri  River  as 
its  outlet,  chiefly  through  the  port  of  Boonville.  This  town,  now  an 
ordinary  county  seat,  then  controlled  the  trade  even  of  far  southern 
Lawrence  County. ^  Its  former  period  of  large  river  commerce  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  nearest  river  port,  with  good  roads,  for  all 
southwest  Missouri,  and  even  for  a  portion  of  Arkansas  and  the  Cherokee 
Nation.*  The  Osage  River  penetrated  farthest  into  the  region  and  was  of 
some  commercial  importance  to  it.'     In  1859,  8,000  tons  of  freight  were 

'  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  212. 

'Hubble,  Personal  Reminiscences,  p.  8;  Encyc.  of  the  Hist,  of  Missouri:  Chris- 
tian County. 

3  Compendium  of  the  sixth  census.        *  Compendium  of  the  sixth  census. 

■•  Oelshausen,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  168.     • '  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  303. 

5  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  38.  *  Barker,  Hist,  of  All  Western  States,  p.  433. 

9  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  IV,  86-90. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN  143 

sent  from  St.  Louis  to  Osage  River  points.'  At  high  water  boats  ran 
to  Osceola,^  but  ordinarily  not  beyond  Warsaw.^  The  position  of  War- 
saw at  the  usual  head  of  navigation,  combined  with  the  fact  that  here  the 
overland  traffic  to  and  from  the  Missouri  River  crossed,""  made  it  a 
flourishing  trading  center.  In  1854  it  was  called  the  principal  com- 
mercial point  for  about  fifteen  counties  in  southwestern  Missouri. ^ 
Only  the  extreme  southern  counties  used  the  roundabout  routes  of  the 
White  and  Neosho  rivers  as  outlets.  In  1851  Barry  County  appropri- 
ated a  sum  for  the  improvement  of  White  River.  In  1854  the  General 
Assembly  of  Missouri  voted  moneys  for  the  same  purpose.  Of  Stone 
County,  which  is  traversed  by  White  River,  it  was  reported  in  the  seven- 
ties: "  Up  to  the  late  war,  all  the  trading  of  the  people  was  carried  on  in  a 
very  primitive  manner;  the  numerous  streams  of  the  country  afforded 
ample  facilities  for  boating,  and  freighted  flat  boats  might  often  be  seen 
drifting  quietly  down  the  river,  the  grain  piled  high  in  the  centre  of  the 
broad  bottomed  craft.  "^  From  Newton  County  goods  were  shipped 
down  the  Neosho  River  through  the  present  state  of  Oklahoma  to  the 
Arkansas  River  and  so  to  the  Mississippi.  There  is  record  of  three  flat- 
boats  of  lead  having  been  shipped  to  New  Orleans  by  this  route  in 
1851.^  Connections  with  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City,  now  the  most 
important  markets  of  the  region,  were  then  wanting  for  the  most  part. 

DEVELOPMENT   SINCE    185O 

The  western  border  entered  the  second  phase  of  its  development 
about  1850,  when  lead  mining  began.  From  the  earliest  times  lead  had 
been  found  in  scattered  lumps  in  this  region,  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
Ozarks.  It  had  been  mined  to  a  small  e.xtent  in  Greene  and  Webster 
counties  in  the  early  forties,*  and  near  Joplin  in  1848.'  The  first  dis- 
covery at  Granby,  in  Newton  County,  was  made  in  1849.'°  In  1850 
six  men  are  said  to  have  raised  100,000  pounds  of  lead  at  this  place  in  four 
months."  The  great  deposits  of  the  Granby  field  were  discovered  in 
1854."     In  the  fall  of  that  year  there  was  not  a  house  on  the  site  of 

'Parker,  Missouri  as  It  Is,  p.  187.  'De  Bow's  Review,  XI,  89. 

'  Oelshausen,  Siaal  Missouri,  p.  169.  *  Shepard, MissouriGeoL Surv.,X.II,  181. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  166.  »  Winslow,  Missouri  Gcol.  Surv.,Yi.,  281. 

<Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  41.  "  Parker,  Missouri  as  It  Is,  p.  95. 

^ Ann. Rev. Comm. St. Louis (1854), p.S2.  " Oelshausen,  Stoat  Missouri,  p.  167. 

*  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  609.  "  Parker,  loc.  cit. 


144       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Granby,  and  only  one  shaft  had  been  sunk.^  In  1857  a  single  small  shaft 
averaged  $1,400  per  month.^  About  one  thousand  miners  had  collected 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,^  and  Granby  was  a  mining  camp  in  full 
boom.''  Hundreds  of  log  cabins  had  been  built,  and  the  place  had  the 
appearance  of  a  prairie-dog  town,  it  is  said,  with  its  mounds  of  earth 
thrown  up  from  hundreds  of  shafts  in  and  around  the  town.s  In  i860, 
4,000  miners  were  engaged.*^  It  is  estimated  that  since  the  opening  of 
the  district  there  have  been  more  than  5,000  shafts  sunkJ 

Transportation  was  still  a  serious  problem,  but  as  lead  brought  from 
5  to  6  cents  per  pound*  it  was  profitable  to  transport  it  even  under  the 
crude  conditions  then  existing.  "The  lead  of  the  southwest  was  hauled 
long  distances  in  wagons  to  the  markets,  or  to  river  points.  Some  went 
as  far  north  as  Boonville,  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  a  large  amount  was 
hauled  to  Linn  Creek,  on  the  Osage  river,  while  another  large  portion 
was  hauled  to  Fort  Smith,  on  the  Arkansas  river,  and  then  transferred 
by  boat  to  New  Orleans,  St.  Louis  and  other  markets."' 

The  discovery  of  lead  in  this  remote  section  first  aroused  the  interest 
of  the  state  as  a  whole  in  its  southwestern  part.  A  project  soon  was 
formed  to  develop  the  region  by  constructing  the  Southwestern  Branch 
of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  later  named  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad. 
To  secure  the  best  location  for  this  line  the  State  Geological  Survey  was 
created.  The  report  of  Swallow,  published  in  1858,  called  widespread 
attention  to  the  prospects  of  mineral  wealth.  Construction  of  the  rail- 
road was  undertaken  and  continued  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  which  found  it  completed  only  to  Rolla. 

The  war  not  only  checked  economic  development  but  caused  the 
dispersal  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  population.'"  This  region,  because 
of  its  smooth  surface,  formed  a  good  passageway  between  the  Missouri 
and  Arkansas  valleys,  and  thus  witnessed  the  severest  fighting  in  Mis- 
souri. It  was  levied  upon  by  regular  troops  of  both  sides,  and  it  was 
ravaged  repeatedly  by  marauding  parties.  The  live  stock  was  largely 
driven  out  of  the  country  and  little  land  was  cultivated.     The  Granby 

'  Swallow,  Geol.  Rept.  of  the  Southwestern  Branch  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  of  Missouri, 
PP-  36-37- 

^  Ihid.  ^  Ibid.  •*  Parker,  op.  cit.,  p.  97. 

5  Swallow,  loc.  cit.,  plate  opp.  p.  36;  Richardson,  Beyond  the  Mississippi,  p.  210. 
^  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  53. 

7  Buckley  and  Buehler,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  IV,  Lx. 
*  Winslow,  op.  cit.,  p.  290.  » Ibid. 

"  Encyc.  of  the  Hist,  of  Missouri:  Barry  County. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN  145 

lead  mines  were  deserted  part  of  the  time;    at  other  times  they  were 
worked  either  by  Confederate  or  Federal  forces.' 

The  recovery  of  the  region  after  the  war  was  rapid.  Christian 
County,  which  in  1865  was  nearly  depopulated,  is  said  to  have  had  9,000 
inhabitants  in  1872,  one-third  of  whom  returned  after  the  war,  the 
remainder  having  immigrated.^  In  1870  the  railroad  was  completed  from 
Rolla  to  Springfield  and  the  mining  region,  and  about  at  the  same  time 
the  extraordinary  mineral  deposits  of  the  Joplin  district  were  discovered.' 
In  1870  there  was  not  a  single  house  at  Joplin.  In  February,  1871,  there 
were  received  at  that  place  80,000  pounds  of  lead  per  month.  The 
Joplin  Index  said  in  1872:  "We  thought  this  basis  was  sutBcient  for 
healthy  growth,  but  this  small  beginning  soon  grew  to  500,000  pounds 
per  month,  and  during  the  last  three  months  it  has  not  fell  [sic]  short 
of  1,500,000  pounds,  thus  scattering  in  our  city  every  month,  over 
$40,000."''  In  1874  Joplin  was  a  city  of  3,000  people,  with  1,000  miners 
and  13  furnaces.  Oronogo,  Webb  City,  and  Cartersville  were  laid  out 
in  quick  succession. ^  In  the  meantime  a  satisfactory  process  had  been 
developed  for  the  treating  of  zinc  blende.*  As  a  result  Joplin  in  1872 
began  to  ship  out  zinc  ore,  and,  the  price  rising  rapidly  from  $3  to  $15 
per  ton,  continued  to  work  its  zinc  ores  at  an  increasing  rate  until  by 
1880  zinc  was  nearly  as  valuable  a  product  of  the  Jasper  County  district 
as  lead. 7  In  this  latter  year  Jasper  County  produced  10,878  tons  of  lead 
ore  and  21,304  of  zinc*  The  utilization  of  zinc  revived  the  decadent 
mining  industry  of  the  Granby  region,  which  yielded  zinc  to  the  value  of 
$2,096,000  in  the  period  from  1873  to  1893  and  thereby  surpassed  its 
mineral  production  of  the  first  twenty  years.'  From  1893  to  1904  the  out- 
put of  zinc  was  three  and  one-half  times  as  valuable  as  that  of  lead.  From 
the  first  decade  of  production  southwestern  Missouri  has  held  first  place 
in  the  world's  zinc  output.  In  addition  to  the  Joplin  and  Granby  districts 
other  deposits  were  discovered  from  time  to  time,  notably  that  at  Aurora, 
which  was  opened  in  1886.  By  1891  Lawrence  County,  in  which  Aurora 
lies,  was  second  among  the  counties  of  the  state  in  zinc  production  and 

'  Missouri  GeoL  Sure.,  VI,  291  fiF. 

'  Eighth  Anti.  Kept.  Slate  Board  of  Agric,  p.  246. 

i  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  I,  55. 

*  Eighth  Ann.  Re  pi.  Stale  Board  of  Agric,  p.  311. 

s  Missouri  GeoL  Surv.,  VI,  291  ff.;  Stevens,  op.  cit.,  I,  59. 

*  Bain,  U.S.  GeoL  Surv.,  Twenty-second  Ann.  Rcpt.,  Part  II,  p.  62. 
'  Missouri  GeoL  Surv.,  VI,  291  fF. 

*  Ibid.,  298.  »  Buckley  and  Buehlcr,  op.  cit.,  pp.  3-4. 


146       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

■  third  in  lead.^  In  all  camps,  except  Oronogo,  there  has  been  a  steady- 
increase  in  the  relative  importance  of  the  zinc  output  from  year  to  year. 
The  development  of  the  southwestern  mining  region  has  continued  almost 
to  the  present  day,  partly  as  a  result  of  discoveries  of  new  ore  bodies  and 
partly  because  of  the  continued  rise  in  the  price  of  zinc. 

The  growth  of  the  mining  camps  created  a  good  home  market  for 
agricultural  products.  The  completion  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
(Frisco)  Railroad  afforded  an  outlet  to  St.  Louis.  About  1880  the 
Missouri  Pacific  and  the  Kansas  City,  Fort  Scott  and  Memphis  railroads 
were  built  into  the  Springfield  region  from  Kansas  City.*  The  former 
isolation  was  thus  broken  down  rapidly  and  effectively.  Farming 
experienced  a  marked  invigoration.  The  prairies,  at  first  despised, 
presently  were  considered  "  the  most  valuable  agricultural  land  in  south- 
ern Missouri.  The  ease  with  which  they  can  be  cultivated,  through  the 
introduction  of  labor-saving  machinery,  has  given  them  a  marked  prefer- 
ence over  the  timbered  lands.  "^  In  1867  Jasper  County's  principal 
hay  product  still  was  "  taken  from  the  prairies,"''  but  in  1880  this  county 
had  205,000  acres  of  improved  land,  five  times  as  much  as  in  1860.^  By 
1880  the  proportion  of  improved  land  to  total  land  area  had  become 
higher  in  this  region  than  in  the  longer-settled  northern  and  eastern 
borders  of  the  Ozark  Highland.  In  this  year  Jasper,  Greene,  Benton, 
Dade,  Lawrence,  Polk,  Worth,  and  Cedar  counties  each  produced  more 
than  a  million  bushels  of  corn,^  whereas  twenty  years  previously  Greene 
County  alone  had  produced  such  an  amo:mt.  The  soil  was  excellently 
adapted  to  wheat  growing,  and  as  soon  as  railroad  transportation 
was  available  the  cultivation  of  this  grain  assumed  large  proportions. 
As  early  as  1872  Springfield  possessed  fifteen  busy  mills.^ 

In  the  development  subsequent  to  the  Civil  War  settlers  from  north- 
ern states  had  a  dominant  influence.  Illinois,  Iowa,  southern  Wisconsin, 
and  northern  Missouri  were  well  settled  at  that  time.  Southern  Mis- 
souri, after  it  was  provided  with  railroads,  was  an  inviting  field  for  immi- 
gration from  older  states,  since  large  areas  of  good,  cheap  land  were 
available,  and  farm  conditions  were  similar  to  those  of  the  prairie  states 
of  the  Middle  West.     When  railroads  linked  the  region  to  the  Missouri 

^  Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  VII,  614  ff.  "  Ibid.,  614. 

5  Missouri  State  Board  of  Immigration,  Handbook  of  Missouri  (1881),  p.  11. 

'•  Third  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.  of  Missouri,  p.  305. 

5  Census  of  1880.  *  Ibid. 

'  Eighth  Ann.  Rept.  State  Board  of  Agric,  p.  281. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD  PLAIN  147 

River  and  eastern  points,  a  large  immigration  into  the  Springfield  Plain 
took  place,  which  was  part  of  that  great  body  of  northern  settlers  who 
previously  had  appropriated  north  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Iowa.'  Set- 
tlers from  the  North  continued  to  come  for  several  decades.  In  this 
connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Springfield  probably  was  the 
first  center  of  Congregationalism  in  Missouri.  At  present  southwest 
Missouri  is  in  almost  every  way  more  like  the  northern  part  of  the  state 
than  is  any  other  section  south  of  the  Missouri  River. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  246,357. 


CHAPTER  X 
SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER 

The  plateau  and  hill  regions  of  the  central  Ozarks  were  settled  last, 
in  part  because  of  their  poverty,  but  principally  because  of  their  isola- 
tion. Only  on  the  periphery,  where  river  valleys  established  connection 
with  the  outside  world  and  furnished  good  land,  were  settlements  made 
contemporaneously  with  those  of  the  Ozark  borders.  By  1811  the 
frontier  had  retired  sixty  miles  west  of  the  Mississippi'  to  the  margins 
of  the  Courtois  Hills.  This  region  of  scanty  resources  served  as  a 
barrier  which  deflected  the  major  immigration  to  the  north.  On  the 
east,  where  stream  valleys  led  back  into  the  hills,  a  limited  number  of 
people  found  homes  in  the  occupation  of  valley  lands.  Successively 
the  eastern,  northern,  and  western  "borders  were  settled.  Even  after 
all  the  border  regions  were  well  populated  the  settlements  of  the  interior 
remained  few,  small,  and  scattered,  and  considerable  areas  were  still 
unoccupied.  Figs.  23  and  24,  showing  the  distribution  of  population  in 
1820  and  1830,  represent  the  beginning  of  this  peripheral  movement  of 
population  around  the  Ozark  Center.  Gradually  there  was  a  slow  immi- 
gration into  the  central  regions,  the  process  of  settlement  being  slowest 
in  the  Courtois  and  the  Osage-Gasconade  River  hills  and  longest  delayed 
on  the  remote  Arkansas  border.  The  region  has  experienced  no  marked 
periods  of  rapid  growth,  except  after  the  Civil  War,  and  nothing  that 
may  be  called  a  boom.  Settlement  has  been  by  gradual  and  unobtrusive 
infiltration. 

Many  of  those  who  came  were  unable  or  unwilling  to  meet  the  compe- 
tition of  life  in  more  progressive  regions.  The  Ozark  Center  has  held 
few  prizes  to  stimulate  the  ambition  of  its  people,  most  of  whom  have 
lived  uneventful  lives  and  therefore  have  made  little  local  history.  The 
region  has  been  cut  off  by  its  hills  from  the  rest  of  the  state,  and  has 
developed  small  interest  in  outside  affairs.  Few  men  have  gone  from 
it  to  take  a  strong  hand  in  the  affairs  of  the  state.  It  has  been  a  minor 
factor  in  shaping  the  policies  of  the  state  government,  except  in  so  far 
as  counties  settled  by  large  delegations  of  Tennessee  or  Kentucky  hill 
people  have  been  bulwarks  of  the  Republican  party.     The  paucity 

'  Brackenridge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  113. 

148 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  149 

of  important  events,  the  want  of  pride  in  local  afTairs,  and  the  character 
of  the  people  all  are  reflected  in  the  scarcity  of  written  accounts  of  the 
history  of  the  region. 

HUNTER   FRONTIERSMEN 

The  principal  pioneer  groups  of  this  region  were  of  different  types 
from  those  of  the  border  sections.  Probably  the  largest  class  were 
hunters  predominantly;  a  smaller  number  came  to  farm  in  the  valleys 
and  to  raise  stock;  others  were  attracted  by  the  pine  timber,  saltpeter, 
and  iron. 

The  region  inevitably  became  a  haven  for  the  frontiersman  who  lived 
by  his  gun  and  traps,  giving  only  incidental  attention  to  agriculture. 
As  the  more  accessible  and  richer  portions  of  the  country  were  occupied, 
men  of  this  class  were  crowded  out  by  their  unfitness  for  ordered  occupa- 
tions and  by  their  devotion  to  the  chase.  Of  the  eastern  border  it  was 
said  in  1819:  "Hunting  is  every  year  becoming  less  an  object.  Those, 
therefore,  who  are  attached  to  this  kind  of  life  are  almost  imperceptibly 
withdrawing  further  into  the  woods."'  To  these  men  the  hills  of  the 
central  Ozarks  were  by  no  means  an  undesirable  region.  They  cared 
little  for  fertile  soil  and  less  for  transportation  facilities.  Here  was  a 
healthful  country,  abundant  game,  springs  of  cold,  clear  water,  patches 
of  bottom  land  sufficient  to  produce  the  small  amount  of  corn  and  cotton 
which  they  needed,  and  that  elbowroom  which  men  of  this  stamp  desired. 
In  many  places  lead  and  gunpowder  could  be  produced  with  little 
trouble.^ 

Of  the  sections  which  were  considered  especially  desirable  by  this 
class  of  frontiersmen,  the  White  River  country  ranked  first.  It  is  indeed 
still  a  pleasant  country  for  the  hunter  and  fisherman.  Here  as  early  as 
1790,  at  the  junction  of  the  James  and  White,  a  white  man  made  his 

'  Schoolcraft,  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  36. 

'  .\n  interesting  instance  of  the  manner  in  which  the  early  hunters  lived  on  the 
resources  of  the  country  is  the  following:  "When  Uncle  Sampson  Barker  was  a  boy  he 
went  out  in  a  hollow  of  Taney  County  almost  anywhere  and  picked  u{)  some  fragments 
of  lead  ore.  He  selected  a  stump,  white  oak  preferred.  The  hole  he  filled  with  light 
wood,  fie  struck  a  tlint  or  touched  a  match,  if  he  happened  to  have  one  of  those 
new-fangled  things  called  lucifcrs.  He  piled  on  the  ore  and  went  away.  When  the 
homemade  smelter  had  cooled  off,  Sampson  went  back,  raked  the  lead  out  of  the  ashes 
and  molded  his  bullets.  Uncle  Sampson  Barker  lived  to  be  one  of  the  oldest  hunters 
in  the  White  River  region.  He  never  thought  of  going  to  the  store  for  cartridges, 
even  when  fixed  ammunition  became  cheap,  but  down  to  the  end  of  the  century  smelted 
his  lead  and  molded  his  bullets"  (Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  43). 


150       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

home.^    In  181 1  this  region  was  spoken  of  "with  rapture  by  those  who 

have  seen  it Hunters  agree  in  declaring  that  on  the  waters  of  this 

river,  a  country  may  be  chosen,  at  least  one  hundred  miles  square,  not 
surpassed  by  the  best  parts  of  Kentucky."^  The  estimate  of  the  country 
was  undoubtedly  that  of  the  hunter,  not  of  the  farmer.  The  springs, 
streams,  and  woods  were  reported  to  be  of  extraordinary  excellence. ^ 
Of  this  region  it  was  said  in  181 8  that  "the  furs  and  peltries  are  taken 
down  the  river  at  certain  seasons  in  canoes,  and  disposed  of  to  traders, 
who  visit  the  lower  parts  of  the  river  for  that  purpose.  Here  they  receive 
in  exchange  for  their  furs,  woolen  clothes,  rifles,  knives  and  hatchets,  salt, 
powder,  lead,  etc."''  At  this  time  a  slender  chain  of  pioneer  cabins 
extended  for  300  miles  along  the  White  River,  from  Batesville,  Arkansas, 
to  Forsyth,  Missouri. ^  Other  early  locations  were  on  the  Black  River, 
in  Reynolds  County,*  and  at  Poplar  Bluff,  where  the  combination  of 
wooded  hills  and  swamps  made  a  good  hunting-ground.''  At  this  time 
the  northern  interior  regions  of  the  Ozarks  seem  to  have  been  less  well 
known,^  the  Niangua  River,  however,  receiving  favorable  comment 
"for  the  number  of  bears  which  range  in  the  woods."' 

Numerous  accounts  have  been  left  of  the  life  and  character  of  these 
people.  They  were  not  recruited  from  any  one  class  nor  from  any  one 
section,"  although  they  were  mostly  of  southern  origin,  like  the  other 
settlers  of  this  period.  For  the  most  part  they  "  either  embraced  hunting 
from  the  love  of  ease  or  singularity,  or  have  fled  from  society  to  escape 
the  severity  of  the  laws,  and  to  indulge  in  unrestrained  passion.""  Their 
life  was  adjusted  perfectly  to  their  primitive  surroundings.  "Insulated 
by  a  pathless  wilderness,  without  the  pale  of  civil  law,  or  the  restraints 
upon  manners  and  actions  imposed  by  refined  society,  this  population 
are  an  extraordinary  instance  of  the  retrogression  of  society.  So  far 
as  is  not  necessary  for  animal  existence,  they  have  abandoned  the  pur- 
suit of  agriculture.""    As  late  as  1859  the  inhabitants  of  the  Arkansas 

'  Ca.mphe\\,  Gazetteer,  p.  609;  Schoolcraft  in  1S18  found  no  families  above  Beaver 
Creek  (Tour  into  the  Interior,  pp.  43-67). 

^  BTa.ckenTidge,  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  101. 

3  Ibid.  ■•  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  pp.  249,  250. 

5  Pettibone,  in  Missouri  Hist.  Colls.,  Vol.  II,  No.  i,  pp.  47-50. 

*  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  477.  '  Ibid.,  p.  83. 

*  Brackenridge,  op.  cit.,  p.  102;   Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  336. 
9  Dana,  Geog.  Sketches  on  the  West  Country,  p.  293. 

'"  Schoolcraft,  op.  cit.,  pp.  174-75;   see  also  his  Tour  into  tJie  Interior. 
"  Ibid.  "  Ibid. 


n 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  151 

border  were  characterized  as  half  wild,'  certainly  somewhat  too  sweeping 
a  generalization. 

Their  occupations  were  described  thus:  They 

support  themselves  by  hunting  the  bear,  deer,  buffaloe,  elk,  beaver,  racoon, 

and  other  animals They  also  raise  some  corn  for  bread,  and  for  feeding 

their  horses,  on  preparing  for  long  voyages  into  the  woods,  or  other  extraordi- 
nary occasions.     They  seldom,  however,  cultivate  more  than  an  acre  or  two, 

subsisting  chiefly  on  animal  food  and  wild  honey When  the  season  of 

hunting  arrives,  the  ordinary  labors  of  a  man  about  the  house  and  corn-field 

devolve  upon  the  women They  in  fact  pursue  a  similar  course  of  life 

with  the  savages;  having  embraced  their  love  of  ease,  and  their  contempt  for 
agricultural  pursuits,  with  their  sagacity  in  the  chase,  their  mode  of  dressing 
in  skins,  their  manners,  and  their  hospitality  to  strangers.' 

This  class  of  frontiersman,  so  numerously  represented  in  the  Ozark 
hills,  formed  little  attachment  to  the  place  of  their  Jiabitation.  They 
were  said  to  ''continue  there,  until  the  game  has  disappeared,  or  the 
proper  claimant  of  the  land  comes  and  '  warns  them  off.'  "^  The  nomadic 
habits  of  the  frontier  were  developed  to  the  highest  degree  in  this  foot- 
loose group.  The  general  type  is  well  described  by  Flint:  "Next  to 
hunting,  Indian  wars,  and  the  wonderful  exuberance  of  Kentucky,  the 

'  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  74;  (1865),  p.  55. 

"  Schoolcraft,  loc.  cit.;  similarb'  Featherstonhaugh,  Excursion,  1, 33 7.  An  account 
of  early  Howell  County  has  it  that  "the  country  at  that  time  abounded  in  millions  of 
deer,  turkeys,  bear,  wolves,  and  small  animals.  I  remember  as  my  father  was  mov- 
ing west  ....  that  we  could  see  the  deer  feeding  on  the  hills  in  great  herds  like 
cattle,  and  wild  turkeys  were  in  abundance.  Wild  meat  was  so  plentiful  that  the 
settlers  easily  subsisted  upon  the  flesh  of  wild  animals  until  they  could  grow  some 
tame  stock,  such  as  hogs  and  cattle.  This  country  was  then  almost  a  'land  of  honey.' 
Bees  abounded  in  great  numbers  and  men  hunted  them  for  the  profit  they  derived  from 
the  beeswax.  \Mien  my  father  first  located,  beeswax,  peltry  and  fur  skins  almost 
constituted  the  currency  of  the  country.  I  remember  that  a  short  time  after  my  father 
located,  a  gentleman  came  to  my  father's  house  and  wanted  to  buy  a  horse  and  offered 
to  pay  him  in  beeswax  and  honey."  In  hunting  expeditions,  honey  and  beeswax 
were  as  much  sought  after  as  deer  skins.  Not  infrequently  the  hunters  returned  laden 
with  freshly  killed  deer  skins,  filled  with  wild  honey  in  the  comb.  The  women  then 
separated  the  honey  from  the  beeswax,  molded  the  beeswax  into  cakes,  and  helped 
to  prepare  the  deer  skins.  Honey  supplied  the  household  sweetening;  beeswax 
and  skins  were  marketed.  Taxes  were  commonly  paid  with  skins.  "I  have  seen 
collectors  leading  a  horse  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  his  fur  skins.  I  have  seen  the 
horse  completely  covered  with  fur  skins  so  you  could  see  no  part  of  him  but  his  head 
and  hoofs  and  tail"  (Monks,  Hisl.  of  Southern  Missouri  and  Nort/tcrn  Arkansas, 
pp.  8-1 1). 

^  Baird,  Virw  of  Ific  Mississippi,  p.  238. 


152        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

favorite  topic  is  new  countries.  They  talk  of  them.  They  are  attached 
to  the  associations  connected  with  such  conversations.  They  have  a 
fatal  effect  upon  their  exertions.  They  have  no  motive,  in  consonance 
with  these  feelings,  to  build  with  old  Cato,  'for  posterity  and  the  im- 
mortal gods.'  They  only  make  such  improvements  as  they  can  leave 
without  reluctance  and  without  loss."'  This  class  was  typical,  of  course, 
of  almost  every  frontier.  It  existed  in  greater  purity,  however,  in  the 
Ozark  hills,  and  remained  longer  there  than  in  most  sections,  because 
of  the  small  and  belated  competition  from  agricultural  immigrants. 
As  Missouri  developed,  many  men  of  this  type  moved  west  with  the 
frontier.^  Others  retreated  into  the  hills  south  of  the  Missouri.  Since 
the  Ozark  hills  were  almost  unoccupied  agriculturally  for  years  after 
the  surrounding  regions  had  been  converted  to  farming  uses,  this  section 
long  served  as  a  refuge  to  the  hunter  frontiersman.  Thus  many  became 
detached  from  that  westward  moving  frontier  of  which  they  had  been 
a  part  and  remained  in  the  hills.  They  gradually  accepted  agricultural 
habits,^  with  varying  degrees  of  success,''  or  formed  a  local  proletariat, 
working  at  teaming,  tie  hacking,  clay  digging,  and  other  occasional  jobs. 

EARLY   LUMBERING   AND   MINING 

The  pine  forests  of  the  Gasconade,  and  later  those  of  the  Arkansas 
border,  attracted  numbers  of  people.  In  1818  Nicholas  Van  Zandt 
wrote  of  the  Gasconade :  "Lumber  is  rafted  down  this  river  for  more  than 
60  miles  during  high  water.  "^  Schoolcraft,  traveling  across  the  Ozarks 
in  1818-19,  observed  that  the  sawmills  on  the  Gasconade  constituted  the 
only  settlements  in  that  region.^  He  wrote :  "On  this  stream  are  already 
situated  several  saw  mills,  where  boards  and  plank  are  cut  for  the  St. 
Louis  market.  "7  As  the  party  of  Major  Long  passed  up  the  Missouri 
River  in  1819,  they  found  that  most  of  the  settlements  along  it  were 
supplied  with  pine  timber  from  sawmills  on  the  Gasconade.*  This  was 
the  nearest  source  of  pine  lumber  for  the  St.  Louis  district,'  and  as  a 

'  Flint,  Recollections,  pp.  204-5;   see  also  Featherstonhaugh,  op.  cit.,  I,  336  ff. 

'  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  74;   (1865),  p.  55;   Baird,  loc.  cit. 

^Campbell,  Gazetteer,  pp.  609,  617  (account  of  the  Yocum  family);  Muench, 
Staat  Missouri  (1865),  p.  55. 

^  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  I,  20. 

s  Full  Description  of  the  Military  Lands,  p.  102.         ^  Tour  into  the  Interior,  p.  15. 

7  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  164;  see  also  p.  172. 

*  James,  in  Early  Western  Travels,  XIV,  137. 

»  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  232;  Thwaites,  Early  Western  Travels,  XVIII,  33-34. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  1 53 

result  there  soon  developed  a  profitable  business  of  rafting  pine  planks 
and  timber  from  the  upper  Gasconade.'  In  1823  it  was  said:  "Formerly, 
lumber  was  brought  at  great  expense  from  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio 
rivers.  At  present  it  can  be  sent  down  the  Gasconade  to  St.  Louis,  and 
the  other  towns  along  the  river,  for  one-fourth  the  price. "^  The  first 
settlements  in  Texas  County  were  made  by  men  who  built  sawmills  on 
the  Big  Piney.'*'  Here  there  were  in  1823  ''already  six  saw-mills  erected, 
which  are  kept  continually  employed."''  In  1831  it  was  said  that  from 
this  country  a  ''great  supply  of  plank  and  timber,  of  that  kind  is  brought 
to  St.  Charles  and  St.  Louis."*  In  1852  the  Gasconade  Valley  was  still 
considered  chiefly  important  for  the  supplies  of  pine  plank  and  timber 
which  it  furnished  to  the  country  below. "^  At  about  this  time  the  more 
remote  forests  of  the  Arkansas  border  were  first  exploited,  as  most  of  the 
Gasconade  lumber  had  been  cut.  There  were  then  more  than  a  dozen 
small  mills  in  Ozark  County,  "some  capable  of  cutting  upwards  of  2,000 
feet  per  day."  Fig.  17  is  a  map  illustrating  the  principal  "pineries" 
of  Ozark  County  about  1855  and  the  location  of  mills.  A  large  portion 
of  this  lumber  was  conveyed  by  ox  teams  to  Springfield,  Bolivar,  and 
even  to  Linn  Creek,  on  the  Osage. ^  By  1867  the  southern  part  of  the 
Courtois  Hills,  including  Carter  County,  had  become  an  important 
producer  of  pine  lumber.* 

The  saltpeter  caves  of  the  cavernous  limestone  formations  were  per- 
haps the  best-known  resource  of  the  interior  districts  in  early  days. 
As  was  the  case  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  they  were  eagerly  sought  and 
supplied  a  needed  commodity  to  the  frontier.  The  number  of  saltpeter 
caves  is  said  to  have  been  greatest  along  the  Gasconade  River.'  The 
deposits  were  for  the  most  part  bat  guano  and  earth,  impregnated  with 
the  feces  of  bats  and  birds  that  had  their  homes  in  the  caves.'"  Bradbury 
wrote  of  the  saltpeter  industry  in  1810  as  though  it  had  been  established 
some  time.  He  said:  ''  In  order  to  obtain  the  nitre,  the  earth  is  collected 
and  lixiviated;  the  water,  after  being  saturated,  is  boiled  down  and 
suffered  to  stand  till  the  crystals  are  formed.     In  this  manner,  it  is  no 

'  Pattie,  in  Early  Weskrn  Travels,  XVIII,  2,7,.       ^  Parker,  Missouri  as  It  Is,  p.  404. 
'  Beck,  Gazcllcer,  p.  282.  *  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  232. 

s  Flint,  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  302. 

*  De  Bow,  Industrial  Resources,  II,  62. 

'  Shumard,  Repts.  Geol.  Surv.  of  Missouri  (1855-71),  pp.  201-2. 

*  Eighth  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.  of  Missouri,  pp.  54-56. 

»  Encyc.  of  the  Hist,  of  Missouri:   Gasconade  County. 
"  See  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  Slate,  I,  1 70. 


154       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

uncommon  thing  for  three  men  to  make  a  hundred  pounds  of  saltpetre 
in  one  day."  In  the  spring  of  1810  a  man  and  his  two  sons  made  3,000 
pounds  on  the  Gasconade  in  a  few  weeks.^  Not  later  than  1816  settlers 
near  Waynesville,  Pulaski  County,  made  gunpowder  by  mixing  saltpeter 
with  charcoal,  produced  locally,  and  sulphur.  They  found  a  ready  mar- 
ket for  their  product  among  the  hunters  and  trappers  of  the  region.^ 
On  Current  River,  at  Ashley's  Cave,  Schoolcraft  observed  in  18 18  that 
"great  quantities  of  this  article  are  annually  collected  and  manufactured 
by  Colonel  Ashley,  of  Mine  a  Burton,  and  transported  to  his  powder- 
manufactory,  in  Washington  county."^  In  1837  it  was  said:  "The 
mineral  is  either  sent  down  the  river,  or  consumed  in  the  manufacture 
of  gunpowder,  for  which  there  are  several  mills."''  One  of  the  last  records 
of  the  use  of  these  deposits  for  gunpowder  dates  from  the  Civil  War, 
during  which  it  is  said  considerable  quantities  were  made  at  Friedes 
Cave,  Phelps  County.^  Most  of  what  remained  of  the  deposits  after  the 
war  has  been  consumed  as  farm  fertilizer. 

The  mining  and  manufacture  of  iron  near  St.  James  in  Phelps  County 
was  the  largest  mineral  industry  of  the  interior.  In  1826  Massey,  one 
of  the  most  famous  pioneers  of  Missouri,  opened  the  "Meramec"  ore 
bank  and  in  1829  the  Meramec  Iron  Works.^  "A  httle  settlement 
sprang  up  here,  and  in  1835  it  contained  about  50  famihes."^  In  spite 
of  the  poor  transportation  facihties  the  iron  industry  prospered,  and 
before  the  opening  of  the  Iron  Mountain  district  supplied  manufactured 
iron  to  almost  all  parts  of  the  state.*  A  number  of  people  found  employ- 
ment in  hauling  iron  to  Hermann,  the  shipping-point  on  the  Missouri 
River,  and  in  returning  with  provisions  for  the  iron  works.  Because  of 
this  traffic  the  main  highway  of  Gasconade  County  is  still  known  as 
Iron  Road.  The  furnace  was  operated  until  i860'  and  the  mine  until 
1891,'°  to  which  date  it  had  produced  375,000  tons.  The  company 
also  developed  other  properties  in  this  vicinity.  In  1819,  before  the 
Meramec  Works  were  put  into  operation,  a  bloomery  had  been  built  on 
Thicketty  Creek,  Crawford  County,  the  ore  being  hauled  in  ox  carts 
from  the  adjacent  hills  and  smelted  in  a  crude  stone  stack.     Midland, 

'  In  Early  Western  Travels,  V,  247.  '  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  455. 

5  Tour  into  the  Interior,  p.  10;  see  also  View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  43. 

'•  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  74  (quoted  from  Beck). 

5  Encyc.  of  the  Hist,  of  Missouri.  ">  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  433. 

*  Shumard,  op.  cit.,  p.  238.  *  Wetmore,  Gazetteer,  p.  69. 

» Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  X,  289. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  295. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  155 

in  Crawford  County,  was  at  one  time  a  flourishing  iron-making  com- 
munity, with  300  men  engaged  at  the  furnace,  nearly  100  at  the  ore 
banks,  and  about  300  cutting  wood  and  making  charcoal.'  An  iron 
furnace  was  also  built  in  1849  at  the  Scotia  mines  in  Crawford  County.* 
An  early  furnace  farther  west,  in  Camden  County,  is  said  to  have  repre- 
sented an  investment  of  $50,000,^  a  sum  not  equaled  by  any  present- 
day  industry  of  the  county.  Other  furnaces  were  put  into  blast  and 
other  mines  were  opened  from  time  to  time.  They  performed  a  valuable 
service  during  the  pioneer  period  in  supplying  iron  at  moderate  prices  to 
a  considerable  part  of  the  state.  Iron  was  made  in  these  small  plants 
until  the  deposits  of  ore  were  exhausted,  or  until  their  operation  was 
made  unprofitable  by  the  great  cheapening  of  iron  through  the  develop- 
ment of  rail  transportation  and  of  a  large-scale  industry  in  the  East. 

CROP   FARMING,    STOCK  RAISING,   AND  PERMANENT   SETTLEMENT 

Agricultural  settlers,  in  so  far  as  they  can  be  differentiated  from  the 
preceding  tv-pes,  entered  the  region  first  from  the  East  by  ascending  the 
larger  valleys.  In  181 5  a  settlement  was  made  on  the  Meramec  in 
Crawford  County. •♦  On  the  Fourche  a  Courtois  a  number  of  plantations 
had  been  established  by  i8i8.s  In  Wayne  County  Spanish  grants  were 
made  along  the  St.  Francois  River.  In  1823  settlements  in  Wayne 
County  still  were  confined  largely  to  this  stream,  the  upland  being  in 
general  undesirable.^  In  Ripley  County  the  first  permanent  settlement 
was  made  in  1819  on  the  Current  River.^  At  this  date  there  were  settle- 
ments also  on  Eleven  Points  River  in  Oregon  County.^  These  valley 
settlers  were  in  the  main  distinctly  farmers,  who  removed  from  the  lime- 
stone basins  of  the  St.  Francois  area  and  the  Mississippi  River  counties. 
On  the  north  the  Osage  River  was  the  principal  line  of  approach,  as  it 
afforded  the  best  means  of  transportation  through  the  northern  hill 
region.'  The  slip-off  slopes  along  the  intrenched  meanders  were  attract- 
ive sites  for  settlement,  affording  water  transportation,  good  farmland, 
and  security  from  floods.  A  rather  enthusiastic  account  of  1839  says: 
"This  river,  which  twenty  years  ago  was  deemed  to  be  in  exclusive  pos- 
session of  the  savages,  is  now  bordered  by  thriving  settlements 

'  Stevens,  Missouri,  the  Center  State,  I,  203.  ^  Nason,  op.  cit.,  p.  311. 

'  Ibid.  *  Parker,  Missouri  as  It  Is,  p.  239. 

s  Schoolcraft,  Tour  into  the  Interior,  p.  5;   View  of  Lead  Mines,  p.  51. 

*  Beck,  Gazetteer,  p.  257. 

"Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  479.  *  Ibid.,  p.  407. 

»  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  I,  19. 


IS6        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


A  steamboat  plies  regularly  between  the  Osage  and  the  settlements  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  and  the  country  is  rapidly  filling  up  with 
farmers."^ 

Generally  settlement  began  with  the  valley  lands,  then  the  prairie 
margins  were  occupied,  and  later  the  open  prairies,  whereas  most  of  the 
hillsides  remain  unimproved  to  this  day.  Of  Howell  County  in  1844  it 
is  said:  "The  country  at  that  time  was  very  sparsely  settled.  The 
settlements  were  confined  to  the  creeks  and  rivers,  where  were  found 
plenty  of  water  and  springs.  No  place  at  that  time  was  thought  worth 
settHng  unless  it  had  a  spring  upon  it."^  In  the  north  the  date  of  entry 
of  land  depended  to  a  very  considerable  degree  on  the  distance  from  the 
Missouri  River,  as  this  was  the  only  outlet  for  the  region.  There  was 
also  extremely  close  accordance  of  drainage  lines  and  early  settlement. 
In  contrast  to  the  border  regions  no  preference  was  shown  for  small 
valleys  as  against  the  larger  ones.  In  this  section  almost  all  streams 
have  sufficient  fall  to  make  them  reasonably  free  from  malaria.  On 
the  Osage  malaria  was  somewhat  prevalent,^  but  conditions  were  not 
very  serious.  The  settlers  buih  their  houses  by  preference  well  up  on 
the  valley  sides,"  and  here  for  the  most  part  they  lived  securely  and 
prosperously.  Only  on  the  southeastern  streams  near  the  margins  of 
the  area  were  conditions  of  health  in  general  bad. 

Fig.  26  illustrates  the  order  of  entry  for  the  lands  in  Hickory  County, 
which  is  situated  largely  in  the  Central  Plateau.  The  first  settlements 
were  in  the  southeastern  corner,  in  the  Elkton  Prairie  region.  This  tract 
is  assigned  most  properly  to  the  Springfield  Plain.  It  contains  excellent 
soils  of  the  Springfield-Lebanon  groups,  has  good  water  accessible  in  the 
small  valleys,  and  was  also  within  a  convenient  distance  of  timber.  It 
is  still  probably  the  most  prosperous  section  in  the  county.  The  next 
entries  were  on  the  Pomme  de  Terre  River,  which  bisects  the  county 
north  and  south,  and  on  the  smaller  creeks.  In  this  decade  there  were 
also  notable  entries  on  the  prairies  which  occupy  the  interstream  areas. 
The  decade  1850-60  witnessed  the  purchase  of  almost  all  of  the  remain- 
ing prairie  land.  This  rapid  entry  was  due  in  part  to  the  Graduation 
Act  and  the  inducements  it  held  for  speculation.  The  dissected  country 
marginal  to  the  Pomme  de  Terre  River  and  the  poor  Clarksville  soils  of 
the  eastern  extremity  were  entered  slowly  in  the  succeeding  years.  This 
map  probably  suggests  too  strongly  the  early  occupation  of  prairies  in 

'  Niles'  Register,  LVI,  224.  »  Monks,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 

3  Tixier,  Voyage  aux  Prairies  Osages,  pp.  256-57. 

4  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2, 1,  19, 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER 


157 


Hickory  County.  Old  settlers  maintain  that  early  settlements  were  not 
on  the  prairie  but  at  its  margins.  Much  of  the  prairie  land  probably 
was  not  improved  for  years  after  it  was  entered.  The  early  purchase  of 
such  large  areas  of  the  prairie,  however,  indicates  clearly  that  even  at 
that  time  the  merits  of  the  land  were  appreciated,  although  the  pioneer 
still  found  it  more  convenient  for  a  number  of  years  to  remain  in  the 
familiar  location  on  the  side  of  a  valley.  In  Pulaski  County  the  small 
prairie  uplands,  especially  on  the  northwest,  were  entered  similarly 
at  an  early  date.     In  Dallas  County,  Buffalo  Head  Prairie  was  one  of 


^■v.-^.--.v.^-y> 


151  Oeca.de  1830-39 
W^  I8t0-I8't9 
E23  1850-1859 

nnm  iseo-iaes 

IZH  Aft..  1869 


Fig.  26. — Order  of  land  entries  in  Hickory  County  (prepared  from  Land  Entry 
Book,  County  Clerk's  Office,  Hermitage). 

the  earlier  settlements.  The  same  is  true  of  most  of  the  prairies  of  the 
Central  Plateau.  Except  in  the  southern  portion,  settlers  located  on  the 
prairies  before  1840.  The  time  and  rate  of  settlement  seem  to  have  been 
determined,  not  so  much  by  the  woodland  or  prairie  character  of  the 
land,  but  by  the  desirability  of  the  soil.  The  Iberia  and  better  grade  of 
Lebanon  soils  were  settled  before  the  Civil  War,  while  many  of  the  tracts 
of  Howell  upland  soils  with  their  stony  surfaces  were  not  entered  until 
lately.  Most  of  the  prairies  were  long,  narrow  strips  with  wood  and 
water  accessible  at  short  distances.  They  provided  excellent  grazing 
for  cattle,  of  which  many  were  kept  in  this  section,  and  their  sod  was  not 


158       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

so  difficult  to  break  as  that  of  the  larger  prairies.  Moreover,  the  princi- 
pal highways  followed  these  ridge  lands.  They  therefore  did  not  repel 
settlement  as  did  the  large  prairies  of  the  western  and  northern  parts  of 
the  state.  The  central  counties  of  the  Arkansas  border  were  last  to  be 
settled  because  they  possessed  no  large  tracts  of  first-class  soil,  and  were 
shut  off  from  markets,  not  only  by  a  considerable  stretch  of  difficult 
wild  country,  but  also  by  the  swampy  lowlands  of  southeastern  Missouri 
and  northeastern  Arkansas.  In  Douglas  County,  for  example,  little 
land  was  entered  before  1870. 

The  minimum  price  of  $1 .25  an  acre  for  public  lands  proved  an 
obstacle  to  the  settlement  of  the  poorer  tracts,  as  most  of  the  land  then 
was  not  considered  worth  the  price.  Land  entries  were  greatly  stimu- 
lated by  the  passage  of  the  Graduation  Act  in  1854.  In  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1858,  1,890,000  acres  of  public  land  were  sold  under  this  act  in 
Missouri.  Of  this  number  1,140,304  were  disposed  of  at  12I  cents  per 
acre  and  227,940,000  acres  at  25  cents.  These  lands  were  described 
chiefly  as  pine  lands,  limestone  districts,  and  mineral,  i.e.,  other  non- 
agricultural  lands.  The  land  office  at  Jackson  alone  sold  1,009,335  acres 
at  12I  cents  and  85,999  acres  at  25  cents,'  largely  in  Shannon  and  other 
counties  of  the  Courtois  Hills. ^ 

The  region  suffered  a  check  during  the  Civil  War  fully  as  severe  as 
the  southwest.  This  was  true  especially  of  plateau  counties  near  the 
Arkansas  border,  settled  by  Tennessee  hill  people  who  were  northern 
sympathizers.  The  settlements  were  weak  and  the  broken  country 
along  the  streams  gave  easy  refuge  to  the  lawless  bands,^  as  it  had  done 
from  time  to  time  previously."  In  1865  Oregon  Coimty  complained  that 
it  "contained  less  than  two  hundred  families,  and  half  of  them  without 
a  male  head;  that  our  villages  and  farms  had  been  consumed  by  the 
torch  of  the  jayhawker;  ....  that  our  mills,  stock  and  grain  were  all 
swept  away. ''5  In  Howell  County  only  fifty  families  remained  at  the 
close  of  the  war.^  On  the  other  hand  it  is  recorded  that  "Stone  County 
suffered  little  during  the  late  Civil  War  on  account  of  its  topography, 

'  Parker,  Missouri  as  II  Is,  pp.  173-74.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  382. 

3  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  I,  20. 

"  "About  1833  there  was  formed  in  St.  Louis,  with  headquarters  at  Waynesville, 
in  Pulaski  County,  an  orgaiiization  known  commonly  as  the  Bank  of  Niangua.  It 
had  a  president,  cashier,  clerks,  board  of  directors,  and  for  some  time  paid  enormous 
dividends.  The  organization  was  a  band  of  counterfeiters,  and  had  in  the  mountains 
of  Pulaski  County  a  cabin  where  the  counterfeiting  was  done"  {Encyc.  of  the  Hist, 
of  Missouri:  Bank  of  Niangua). 

s  Second  Ann.  Rept.  State  Board  of  Agric.,^.  292.        '  Campbell,  Gazetteer,  p.  255. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  159 

which  put  a  formidable  barrier  in  ihe  way  of  marauding  parties."'  It 
seems  that  the  White  River  country  was  too  difficult  of  access  even  for 
bands  of  bushwhackers  and  jayhawkers. 

Agricultural  immigration  previous  to  the  war  had  been  overwhelm- 
ingly from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  Some  of  the  southeastern  counties 
to  this  day  are  inhabited  chiefly  by  Tennesseeans,^  and  it  is  no  rare  thing 
to  find  some  remote  valley  in  which  every  inhabitant  is  descended  from 
Tennessee  stock.  The  ancestor  of  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Howell  County 
came  from  Ireland  and  settled  in  South  Carolina.  His  descendants 
removed  to  Alabama,  thence  to  Tennessee,  Illinois,  and  Arkansas  suc- 
cessively, drifting  with  the  stream  courses.  The  final  removal  was  from 
Arkansas  to  Missouri.^  Of  the  representatives  from  the  central  Ozarks 
to  the  state  legislature  in  1872,  ten  were  from  Tennessee,  six  from  Ken- 
tucky, three  were  natives  of  Virginia,  two  of  North  Carolina,  and  one 
of  Hungary.''  Many  of  the  settlers  were  hill  people  from  central  and 
east  Tennessee,  drawn  from  the  poorest  classes. ^  Some  of  the  counties 
of  Tennessee  which  contributed  largely  were  Monroe,  Polk,  Sumner, 
Smith,  and  Grainger.  Of  the  immigrants  to  the  Osage  Valley  it  was 
said:  "The  uncertainty  of  the  navigation  of  the  Osage  has  prevented  the 
staple  growing  immigrants  from  settling  in  its  valley  and  consequently 
it  has  been  left  open  to  the  smaller  farmers  ....  not  having  much 
produce  to  ship."'^  A  few  of  the  prairie  farmers  were  slave-owners,^  but 
most  of  the  people  kept  no  slaves  and  opposed  slavery.  The  hill  people 
of  the  Alleghany  Plateau  found  here  conditions  not  unlike  those  of  their 
homes  but  much  better  in  many  respects,  especially  as  regards  soil, 
water,  and  accessibility.  Because  this  region  was  adapted  to  their 
tastes  and  was  free  from  the  competition  of  the  wealthier  and  more 
efficient  farming  classes  of  other  sections  they  moved  into  it  in  large 
numbers. 

After  the  war  the  immigration  of  southern  hill  people  slackened,  while 
home  seekers  of  small  means  came  from  many  northern  states,  especially 
to  the  prairies  of  the  Central  Plateau.  To  this  immigration  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  New  England  states  contributed 

'  Ibid.,  p.  609. 

'  See  biographical  section,  Hist,  of  Soutlteastcrn  Missouri  (1888). 

^  Monks,  op.  cit.,  pp.  5-6. 

*  Pratt,  Pen  Pictures,  House  of  Representatives  (1872). 

s  Featherstonhaugh,  Excursions,  I,  337. 

'  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  I,  51. 

^  Ball  and  Smith,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Scr.  2,  I,  20. 


/ 


i6o       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

most.'  The  better  lands  farther  east  had  been  taken  up.  The  Home- 
stead Act  (1862)  enabled  men  of  little  or  no  means  to  establish  them- 
selves in  reasonable  comfort  on  these  lands. ^  The  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Railroad  (Frisco)  was  in  operation  and  opened  a  large  tract  of  land  previ- 
ously difficult  of  access.  Moreover,  the  road  had  been  financed  largely 
by  a  land  grant  and  the  company  advertised  its  lands  vigorously.^ 
These  lands  were  placed  on  sale  at  reasonable  prices,  and  large  quantities 
were  sold,  beginning  with  the  seventies. 

Until  the  last  quarter-century  stock  raising  was  the  most  profitable 
occupation.  For  many  counties  it  was  almost  the  only  business  from 
which  cash  returns  could  be  secured  because  the  poor  roads  and  the 
distance  to  market  prohibited  other  exports.  In  1866  Dallas  County 
reported:  "Cattle  are  driven  to  market  from  this  county  to  St.  Louis 
and  other  markets.  Large  droves  are  bought  up  and  driven  to  Iowa, 
Illinois,  and  to  other  portions  of  this  state."''  This  statement  could  be 
applied  equally  well  to  many  of  the  interior  counties  until  recently. 
Polk  County  was  early  noted  for  its  stock.^  Of  Oregon  County  it  was 
said  in  1859  that  "the  inhabitants  cultivate  enough  com  for  bread  and 
live  happily  and  simply  by  the  chase  and  stock-raising."*  As  long  as 
there  were  not  too  many  people  engaged  in  raising  stock  the  business  was 
profitable,  even  in  the  hilliest  sections.  The  combination  of  fertile 
lands  for  the  growth  of  corn  and  hay  and  of  land  suited  for  pasturage 
was  appreciated  early  as  the  principal  advantage  of  this  region.'^  For 
the  most  part,  however,  stock  raising  was  by  grazing  on  the  wild  land 
rather  than  by  the  feeding  of  hay  or  grain.  Cattle  were  turned  out  on 
the  free  range  of  the  public  domain  after  the  fashion  first  practiced  by 
the  French.  "A  man  could  raise  all  the  stock  in  the  way  of  horses  and 
cattle  that  he  could  possibly  look  after;  the  only  expense  was  salting  and 
caring  for  them."*  The  nutritious  bluestem  grass  grew  on  the  prairie, 
and  on  the  slopes  of  steep  hills,'  and  the  habit  of  burning  it  in  the  fall 
made  grazing  good  even  in  the  timber.  It  was  claimed  as  late  as  1881, 
with  some  exaggeration,  that  this  was  "a  range  for  stock  unsurpassed 

'  Eighth  Ann.  Rept.  State  Board  of  Agric,  pp.  273,  292,  296,  376,  423. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  296. 

J  Lands  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Railroad  (1871). 

*  Second  Ann.  Rept.  State  Board  of  Agric,  p.  246. 

sQelshausen,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  170;   Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  214. 

'  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  215.  *  Monks,  op.  cit.,  p.  11. 

'  Wetmore,  Gazetteer  (1837),  p.  70.  »  Oelshausen,  op.  cit.,  p.  6. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  l6i 

at  least  for  quality;  a  region  well-watered,  well-timbered  and  shaded, 
clothed  with  nutritious  grasses."'  To  some  extent  the  practice  pre- 
vailed of  driving  cattle  south  in  winter  to  the  canebrakes  of  Arkansas, 
thus  entirely  avoiding  the  cost  of  feeding.*  Hogs  were  raised  with  equal 
ease  and  at  less  cost  on  the  abundant  mast  but  were  somewhat  more 
ditTicult  to  market. 

The  method  pursued  in  raising  stock  was  cheap,  well  adapted  to  the 
conditions  then  existing,  and  required  almost  no  labor,  but  it  did  not 
tend  to  produce  stock  of  high  quality.  In  Crawford  County  it  was  stated 
that  '■  the  method  has  been  to  let  cattle  run  through  the  summer  and  get 
fat;  sell  off  what  can  be  spared  and  keep  the  rest  on  the  very  least  pos- 
sible amount  of ' roughness'  that  will  subsist  an  animal  and  keep  strength 
enough  in  the  body  to  begin  with  in  the  coming  spring;  in  this  way  it 
takes  one-third  of  the  summer  to  recover  the  losses  of  winter  starvation. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  one-half  the  entire  neat  cattle  of  this  county,  with 
horses,  mules,  sheep  and  hogs  go  through  the  winter  season  with  no 
more  food  than  would  be  required  to  feed  them  well  two  weeks. "^  The 
average  weight  of  a  cow  was  given  at  375  pounds  or  less,  and  that  of  a 
four-year-old  steer  at  475.  "Hogs  are  perhaps  the  most  neglected  of 
any  kind  of  stock.  The  common  breed  of  the  country,  the  'pointer,' 
is  the  almost  universal  hog  here,  and  a  meaner  one  cannot  be  found  in 
any  country."     Its  average  weight  was  said  not  to  exceed  135  pounds. •• 

With  the  extension  of  settlement  and  continued  stock  raising  the 
range  deteriorated  rapidly.  Close  grazing  killed  out  the  bluestem 
grass.  The  cessation  of  fires  caused  the  grasses  to  be  displaced  by  a 
growth  of  weeds,  prairie  grass,  sassafras  sprouts,  and  post-oak  runners.* 
Grazing  continued  to  be  good  longest  in  the  southern  border  counties, 
which  were  settled  last.  With  pasturage  reduced  in  area  and  quality, 
a  decrease  in  the  number  of  stock  became  necessary,  and  this  resulted 
either  in  greater  attention  to  crop  growing  and  lumbering  or  in  a  pro- 
gressively reduced  standard  of  living.  This  readjustment,  in  part,  is 
still  taking  place.' 

The  other  pioneer  occupations  did  not  differ  materially  from  those 
of  the  border  regions,  except  in  a  few  respects,  (i)  Because  of  their 
isolation  the  people  of  this  region  were  forced  to  be  self-sufficient  to  a 

'  Hai.dbook  of  Missouri,  p.  24.  '  Ibid. 

J  First  Ann.  Repl.  Stale  Board  of  Agric,  App.,  p.  61.  *  Ibid. 

5  Eighth  Ann.  Rcpt.  State  Board  of  Agric.,  p.  225. 
'  Marbut,  Soil  Reconnaissance,  pp.  19-22. 


l62       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

larger  extent  and  for  a  longer  period  than  the  pioneers  of  the  border 
regions.  As  a  result  cotton  growing,  household  spinning  and  weaving, 
and  other  pioneer  industries  were  common  long  after  they  had  been 
abandoned  in  other  sections.^  In  1867  homemade  farm  implements 
were  still  in  general  use.^  (2)  Mining  was  less  important  than  in  the 
other  sections.  Iron  was  by  far  the  most  valuable  mineral  product. 
Lead  was  worked  here  and  there,  mostly  at  odd  times.  Crawford 
County  produced  lead  to  the  value  of  $202,000  before  1880  and  Miller 
County  to  the  value  of  $1 78,000. ^  For  a  time  great  things  were  expected 
of  the  copper  deposits  of  Shannon  County,  of  which  the  government 
reserved  seven  townships.  Copper  was  produced  as  early  as  1837; 
one  mine  is  said  to  have  yielded  $50,000  worth,  all  told,  but  the  industry 
never  realized  more  than  a  small  part  of  the  expectations  of  those  who 
developed  it."  (3)  The  region  is  unusually  well  supplied  with  mill  sites, 
and  water  mills  were  constructed  in  almost  every  neighborhood.  Not 
only  were  the  rapid,  clear,  hill  streams  so  used  but  the  springs  afforded 
splendid  power  for  driving  primitive  water  wheels.  The  great  Bryce's 
Spring,  the  spring  at  Hahatonka,^  the  one  at  Waynesville,  and  many 
others  were  so  used.  They  were  not  often  affected  by  droughts  nor 
endangered  by  floods  and  usually  furnished  more  power  than  was  needed. 
(4)  Production  on  the  whole  was  less  efficient  than  in  the  border  regions. 
The  people  who  appropriated  this  region  were  for  the  most  part  poor  and 
accustomed  to  low  standards  of  living,  and  they  found  in  it  little  to  raise 
these  standards.  By  moderate  labor  they  could  secure  enough  to 
supply  their  small  wants.  By  additional  labor  they  gained  little  more, 
working  in  the  fashion  to  which  they  had  become  accustomed.  One 
man  made  about  as  much  as  his  neighbor  and  both  were  satisfied. 
Because  of  the  lack  of  transportation  facilities  there  was  little  stimulus 
to  the  production  of  a  surplus.  In  Ripley  County  in  1867  the  hoe  was 
enumerated  among  the  principal  agricultural  implements.^  This 
quality  of  being  contented  with  little  was  described  graphically  in  1859 
as  follows:  "Until  our  people  [Crawford  County]  are  educated  up  to  the 

'  On  the  production  of  cotton  see  First  Ann.  Agric.  Kept,  of  Missouri,  App.,  p.  64. 

*  Third  Ann.  Agric.  RepL,  p.  337;   First  Ann.  Agric.  Kept.,  App.,  p.  60. 

3  Winslow,  Missouri  Geol.  Snrv.,  VI. 

4  Bain  and  Ulrich,  U.S.  Geol.  Snrv.,  Bull.  No.  267,  pp.  9-10. 

s  An  early  appreciation  of  this  splendid  mill  site  is  in  Swallow,  First  Ann.  Rept. 
Geol.  Surv.  of  Missouri,  p.  205. 

*  Third  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.,  p.  337;   First  Ann.  Agric.  Rept.,  App.,  p.  60. 


SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  OZARK  CENTER  163 

point  where  they  can  value  a  sheep  higher  than  a  dog,  and  agriculture 
and  manufactures  better  than  opossum  and  coon  hunting,  I  suppose  our 
annual  crops  of  nutritious  grains  will  grow  to  'waste  their  fragrance  on 
the  desert  air,'  and  our  rapid  streams  send  their  babbling  waters  to 
cool  the  mean  whiskey  .  .  .  .  ,  instead  of  making  cheap  clothing  for 
our  ragged  people.'" 

^  First  Aim.  Agric.  Kept.,  App.,  p.  59. 


CHAPTER  XI 
GERMAN  IMMIGRATION 

The  latest  infusion  of  blood  into  the  region,  on  a  large  scale,  has  been 
by  German  immigration.  Excepting  the  French  it  has  contributed  the 
only  appreciable  number  of  non-English  people,  the  Swedish  colonies  of 
the  southwest  and  the  Polish  and  Bohemian  settlements  of  Franklin 
and  Gasconade  counties  being  nearly  negligible  in  comparison.  The 
larger  part  of  the  rural  German  population  of  Missouri  is  located  in  the 
Missouri  and  Mississippi  border  regions  of  the  Ozarks,  in  compact 
settlements.  Here  the  German  immigration  has  displaced  largely  the 
earlier  American  settlers.  The  process  of  German  settlement  has  dupli- 
cated in  the  main  that  of  the  original  settlement  of  the  region.  The 
groups  of  Germans,  who  located  at  various  places  at  different  times, 
exhibit  to  a  high  degree  common  racial  characteristics,  which  have  been 
modified  only  in  part  by  their  present  environment.  This  individuality 
of  the  German  stock  has  expressed  itself  prominently  in  the  development 
of  the  region  which  they  occupy. 

WHITEWATER  DUTCH 

The  earliest  compact  settlements  of  Germans  were  made  before  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century  by  the  so-called  Whitewater  Dutch,  under 
the  leadership  of  Bollinger.'  This  was  the  only  German  colony  in  Mis- 
:souri  which  was  on  the  extreme  frontier.^  It  was  established  about 
Whitewater  Creek  in  Cape  Girardeau  and  Bollinger  counties,  remained 
isolated  for  a  considerable  period,  and  so  preserved  for  a  time  the  racial 
traits  almost  unchanged.^  These  colonists  were,  however,  not  rein- 
:forced  by  other  German  immigrants.  Historically,  this  immigration 
was  part  of  the  great  movement  of  settlers  from  the  South  into  the 
new  West,  not  directly  a  movement  from  abroad.  Most  of  them  were 
natives  of  North  Carolina,  and  they  were  not  in  communication  with 
•  other  German  groups  in  the  West,  nor  with  Germany.  When,  therefore, 
they  became  surrounded  by  Anglo-American  settlements  they  gradually 
')lost  their  racial  identity.  In  physical  characteristics  there  is  nothing  to 
'distinguish  them  at  present  from  their  neighbors.    Typically  they  are  tall, 

'  The  name  of  Bollinger  County  is  still  given  the  German  pronunciation. 
-'  Flint,  Recollections  of  the  Last  Ten  Years,  p.  233.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  232. 

164 


GERAfAN  IMMIGRATION  .  165 

spare,  and  sharp-featured.  They  retain  nothing  of  their  original  language 
or  customs  but  still  the  consciousness  of  their  extraction.  They  hold 
themselves  in  general  quite  aloof  from  the  German  immigrants  who  came 
a  half-century  later.  They  are  still  in  part  Lutherans  and  have  been 
much  less  mobile  than  the  Anglo-Saxon  stock  of  the  region,  remaining 
commonly  in  their  ancestral  seats.  These  are  as  a  rule  the  best  farms 
of  that  section. 

IMMIGRATION   FROM    183O   TO    1850 

The  next  period  of  German  immigration  commenced  about  1830 
and  continued  until  after  1850.'  The  dominant  type  during  this  time 
consisted  of  educated  men,  many  of  them  of  gentle  birth.  They  were 
largely  exiles  from  Germany,  voluntary  or  involuntary.  The  Napoleonic 
wars  had  been  followed  by  a  constitutionalist  movement,  which  was  sup- 
ported especially  by  university  circles.  This  "  Jungdeutschland"  move- 
ment was  suppressed  by  a  reactionary  government,  and  many  of 
those  who  participated  in  it  were  forced  to  flee  or  chose  to  leave  the 
country.  Following  the  years  1832-33  and  1848-49  thousands  of  Ger- 
many's ablest  men,  yoimg  and  old,  left  their  native  land  and  a  large  part 
of  them  came  to  America.  A  second  group,  a  small  one,  came  to  the  New 
World  because  it  had  tired  of  a  convention-ridden  civilization.  The 
spirit  of  romanticism  then  was  strong  in  many  quarters,  and  there  were 
some  who  put  into  practice,  more  or  less  consistently,  the  principles  of 
Rousseau  in  the  wilderness  of  the  West.  A  third  group  consisted 
of  religious  Separatists,  for  whom  the  free  and  full  development  of  their 
ideals  depended  on  escape  from  the  repressive  hand  of  an  established 
church.  In  all  of  these  classes  ideal  rather  than  economic  considerations 
were  dominant.  For  all  of  them  the  frontier  was  the  best  place  to  realize 
these  ideals,  each  group  hoping  to  build  its  community  uninfluenced  by 
established  institutions.  Others,  probably  the  largest  single  class  but  not 
the  most  influential,  came  solely  to  better  their  fortunes.  A  few  were 
unruly  spirits  who  wished  to  escape  the  surveillance  of  society.  The 
Germans  of  Missouri  of  1834  were  described  as  a  "group  of  Westphalian 
hired  hands,  who  had  established  themselves  after  a  poor  fashion,  and  a 
mottled  aristocracy,  consisting  of  German  counts,  barons,  scholars, 
pastors,  planters,  and  officers."^ 

'  A  good  summary  of  German  immigration  is  by  Kargau,  in  Missouri  Hist.  Colls., 
Vol.  II,  No.  I,  p.  23. 

'  Eickhoff,  In  der  neuen  Heitnat  (2d  ed.),  p.  337;  accounts  of  the  character  of  early 
immigrants  are  to  be  found,  ibid.,  pp.  337-39,  and  in  Korner,  Das  deutsche  Element  in 
den  Vereiniglen  Staatcn,  pp.  299-350. 


l66       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

The  determining  factor  in  directing  many  of  these  Germans  to  Mis- 
souri was  the  pubhcation  of  a  book,  entitled  Reise  nach  den  westlichen 
Staaten,  by  Gottfried  Duden.  During  1824-25  this  man  Kved  on  Lake 
Creek,  in  Warren  County.  He  wrote  in  glowing  terms  of  the  beautiful 
Missouri  Valley,  the  wooded  uplands,  the  mild  climate,  and  the  charm 
of  pioneer  life.  He  seems  to  have  experienced  two  abnormally  mild 
winters.  At  any  rate,  unintentionally,  he  led  many  to  expect  a  climate 
almost  Italian  in  its  moderation.  The  volume  contains  few  misstate- 
ments, but  had  unfortunate  results  through  the  emphasis  placed  by  the 
author  on  his  own  experiences  in  Missouri.  The  publication  of  this 
geographic  romance  bore  almost  immediate  fruits.'  Those  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  Germany  hoped  to  find  in  the  region  a  new  home  similar 
to  their  German  one,  but  without  its  social  and  geographic  drawbacks. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  1832  there  were  at  least  thirty- three  German 
families  established  on  the  Missouri  and  twenty  in  the  old  Boone  settle- 
ment on  the  Femme  Osage.  On  this  first  list  were  a  number  of  noblemen 
and  others  who  later  became  well-known  figures  in  the  state.  Directly 
in  response  to  the  propaganda  of  Duden  the  Emigration  Society  of 
Giessen  sent  over,  in  1834,  a  colony  which  became  located  at  the  home 
of  Duden,  in  the  vicinity  of  Dutzow,  Warren  County.^  "All  flocked  at 
first  to  the  place  where  the  philosopher  of  the  wilderness  had  lived, 
and  here  there  was  soon  formed  a  settlement  composed  of  the  most 
varied  German  elements.  "^ 

The  nucleus  having  been  formed,  many  others  came  to  various  parts 
of  the  Missouri  Valley ,4  the  Missouri  River  serving  as  distributary. 
The  vicinity  of  Pinckney,  Warren  County,  attracted  many.s  Some 
located  many  miles  above,  as  the  two  counts  Baudissin,  at  Portland  in 
Callaway  County.  Washington  was  settled  by  an  emigration  society 
from  Berlin,^  and  in  1838  the  largest  single  colony  was  located  at  Her- 
mann. This  group  was  sent  out  from  Philadelphia.  Its  agent  came 
west  with  instructions  to  select  a  site  on  a  navigable  river.  He  chose 
the  site  of  Hermann,  in  part  because  of  the  German  settlements  already 
established  north  of  the  river,  in  part  because  a  large  block  of  public 
land  was  available  there,  in  part  because  the  romantic  location  on  the 
loess  bluffs  of  the  Missouri  reminded  him  of  his  south  German  home  and 

'  Loher,  Deutsche  in  Amerika,  p.  277. 

*Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  p.  8;   Loher,  op.  ciL,  p.  278, 

3  Muench,  ibid.,  p.  19.  i  Flagg,  The  Far  West,  II,  19. 

5  Zimmermann,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  IX,  41;  Oelshausen,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  148. 

'  Bek,  German  Settlement  Society  of  Philadelphia,  p.  46. 


GERMAN  IMMIGRATION  167 

suggested  the  possibility  of  hillside  horticulture,  and  largely  because  he 
was  an  inexperienced  judge  of  farmland  and  of  town  sites.'  Two 
hundred  and  thirty  persons  arrived  in  the  first  year,  recruited  from  all 
parts  of  Germany,  Alsace,  and  Switzerland.-^  On  the  Mississippi  River 
Border  German  immigrants  entered  Cape  Girardeau  County  in  1833-34 
and  in  1835  or  1836  a  Swiss  colony  was  located  at  Dutchtown.^ 

The  earliest  settlement  in  Missouri  for  the  purpose  of  securing  reli- 
gious solidarity  was  at  Westphalia,  Osage  County.  Here  Catholics  from 
Muenster  selected  a  location  on  Maries  Creek  in  1833  and  founded  a 
village.  In  1844  there  was  a  second  large  immigration,  reinforced  in 
1849  by  political  refugees.  Around  this  center  other  Catholic  settlements 
formed  shortly,  including  Taos  in  Cole  County,  Richfountain,  Loose 
Creek,  Luystown,  Frankenstein,  and  others  in  Osage  County. ■*  Other 
Catholic  settlements  were  those  of  1840  at  New  Offenburg  and  Zell  in 
Ste.  Genevieve  County,  attracted  apparently  by  the  French  Catholics 
resident  near  by.  This  nucleus  expanded  rapidly,  especially  by  immi- 
grants from  the  lower  and  upper  Rhine,^  until  Ste.  Genevieve  County 
possessed  a  German-speaking  majority.  In  1839  Protestant  Separa- 
tists, the  so-called  Stephanists,  came  to  Perry  County  and  founded, 
in  a  short  time,  the  German  villages  of  Wittenberg,  Altenburg,  and 
Frohna.^  Their  choice  of  rough  hill  lands  was  most  unfortunate  and  was 
due  to  the  inefficiency  of  their  leader  in  matters  of  practical  judgment.'' 

These,  in  the  main,  were  the  early  nuclei  of  German  settlement  in 
Missouri  outside  of  St.  Louis.  Mostly,  they  proposed  to  preserve  the 
German  language  and  institutions  and  many  of  them  had  definite  reli- 
gious or  social  ends.  They  possessed,  therefore,  a  homogeneity  which 
carried  most  of  them  safely  through  the  difficult  period  of  readjustment. 
The  colony  settlements  introduced  a  degree  of  social  organization  previ- 
ously unknown  in  this  section.  Their  social  and  economic  advantages 
helped  to  attract  later  immigrants.  Because  of  the  number  of  early 
settlers  who  were  men  of  education,  others  of  the  same  sort  were  attracted 
from  time  to  time.  To  establish  these  colonies  it  was  necessary  to 
select  locations  which  were  unoccupied  in  the  main.  These  were  either 
at  some  distance  from  the  large  rivers,  as  Westphalia,  or  consisted  of  land 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  38-46;  Schmolder,  Wegwciser  fiir  Answatidcrer ,  p.  94;  Loher,  op.  cil., 
p.  287. 

'  Bek,  op.  cil.,  pp.  59,  74.  J  Hist,  of  SoulJuaslern  Missouri,  p.  282. 

*  MS  of  Father  Helias  d'Huddeghem,  in  St.  Louis  U.  Collcclion. 

s  Schmolder,  op.  cil.,  p.  96. 

'  Hist,  of  Southeastern  Missouri,  p.  282.       '  Schmolder,  op.  cit.,  pp.  59, 142-44. 


1 


i68       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

that  was  not  considered  especially  desirable,  as  at  Hermann,  Dutzow, 
Wittenberg,  and  New  Offenburg. 

The  chief  geographic  bases  of  German  settlement  in  Missouri,  besides 
the  frontier  location,  were  the  accessibility  of  the  region  from  Europe  by 
way  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Mississippi  River,  the  low  cost  of  land,  and 
the  similarity  of  soil,  climate,  and  vegetation  to  conditions  in  their 
native  country.  This  immigration  antedated  the  construction  of  western 
railroads  and  also,  in  the  main,  of  canals  between  the  Great  Lakes  and 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  state  of  Missouri  was  reached  more  easily, 
therefore,  than  the  states  farther  north  and  also  more  easily  than  large 
tracts  of  more  desirable  land  farther  east.  The  majority  of  the  new- 
comers established  themselves  on  the  river  hills.  The  bottoms,  both  of 
the  Missouri  and  of  the  larger  creeks,  were  farmed  by  older  American 
settlers.  In  1859  the  distribution  was  thus  characterized:  "In  the 
older,  especially  the  German  settlements,  all  of  the  good  river  hill  land 
is  occupied.  The  Americans  to  make  la.rge  plantations,  seize  upon  the 
bottoms  first,  and  then  the  prairies,  and  leave  room  in  the  so-called  hills 
for  the  German."'  The  reasons  for  their  location  are  as  follows:  (i)  On 
the  river  bluffs  the  German  immigrants  found  cheap  land.  (2)  This  land 
was  near  the  older  settlements  and  convenient  to  river  transportation. 
(3)  These  locations  were  said  to  be  preferred  by  the  Germans  because 
they  were  most  healthful.^  The  Dutzow  settlement  was  recommended 
because  of  its  elevated  position.^  An  emigrants'  guide,  published  by  one 
of  their  number,  warned  especially  against  locating  in  the  bottoms  before 
acclimatization  had  taken  place."*  (4)  As  charm  of  location  was  an 
important  factor  in  determining  the  site  of  Duden's  frontier  retreat, 
so  subsequently  those  romantically  inclined  found,  along  the  bluffs  of 
the  Missouri,  sites  that  needed  but  ruined  castles  to  duplicate  the  valley 
of  the  Rhine.  This  romantic  factor  seems  to  have  determined  a  number 
of  locations.^  (5)  Much  of  the  land  was  better  than  its  reputation.  It 
was  said:  "The  Americans  reproach  the  Germans  for  selecting  the  very 
poorest  land."^  A  German  settler,  however,  after  nearly  twenty-five 
years  of  experience  on  a  river-hill  farm,  felt  no  regrets.  He  said  that, 
whereas  the  pioneer  American  farmer  often  ruined  such  farms  in  a  little 
while,  the  German  founded  here  the  most  valuable  plantations.^     Most 

'  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1859),  pp.  29-30. 

'  Zimmermann,  Missouri  Hist.  Rev.,  IX,  41.  - 

3  Schmolder,  op.  cit.,  p.  92. 

'»  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  27.  *  Zimmermann,  loc.  cit, 

5  Ibid.,  pp.  29-30.  7  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  29. 


GERMAN  IMMIGRATION  169 

of  this  hill  land  was  veneered  with  loess  but  had  been  avoided  by  the 
American  because  of  its  uneven  surface.  The  German,  however,  who 
was  accustomed  to  careful  farming  on  a  small  scale  was  able  to  cultivate 
the  hill  soil  so  as  to  avoid  erosion  and  was  willing  to  expend  upon  it  the 
additional  labor  which  its  topography  required.  Properly  tilled,  the 
bluff  lands  yielded  excellent  regular  returns.  The  settler  was  able,  there- 
fore, not  only  to  establish  himself  at  small  outlay,  but  to  save  a  surplus 
and  later  to  buy  more  desirable  lands. 

The  expectations  of  the  early  settlers  were  disappointed  in  numerous 
respects,  and  in  time  the  less  steadfast  were  weeded  out.  (i)  "Scarcely 
had  the  Germans  taken  foot,  when  hard  times,  lasting  through  several 
years,  set  in,  ...  .  times  too  severe  for  a  part  of  the  German  element 
who  had  come  with  highest  hopes."'  (2)  Settlers  who  came  expecting 
to  find  the  conditions  which  Duden  had  portrayed  found  themselves 
disillusioned.^  (3)  Some  of  the  communal  colonies  were  mismanaged 
and  the  participants  lost  part  or  all  of  their  possessions.  The  Stephan- 
ists  discovered  that  the  apostolic  simplicity  of  communistic  living  was 
ill-adapted  to  the  American  West.  (4)  The  most  serious  handicap  lay 
in  the  training  and  aptitude  of  those  settlers  who  possessed  education- 
and  social  station.  Some  of  the  wealthier  attempted  to  set  up  fine 
estates  and  lived  as  gentlemen  of  leisure,  with  the  result  that  their  for- 
tunes were  dissipated.  The  great  majority  set  out  to  live  in  accordance 
with  the  democratic  ideals  which  they  professed,  but  they  lacked  adapt- 
ability to  frontier  conditions.  Men  undertook  to  do  the  hard  labor  of 
clearing  and  cultivating  who  had  never  lifted  an  ax  nor  held  a  plow. 
One  who  knew  his  way  through  the  mazes  of  the  heavenly  constellations, 
and  continued  in  his  log  cabin  his  astronomical  studies,  would  lose  his 
way  in  his  own  neighborhood.  Even  if  their  bodies  became  hardened  to 
the  task,  in  many  cases  they  were  unable  to  develop  the  necessary  farnyng 
sense.  Others  tired  of  the  Arcadian  simplicity  which  they  had  come  so 
far  to  find.  Thus  in  large  part  the  intellectuals  failed.  "Not  many  held 
out  under  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life.  Sooner  or  later  they  sought  and 
found  for  the  most  part  in  the  cities  occupations  better  suited  to  their 
abilities."^  Some  helped  in  the  development  of  cities  such  as  Washing- 
ton, Boonville,  Jefferson  City,  and  Hermann.  Most  of  them  went  to 
St.  Louis,  and  many  there  retrieved  brilliantly  their  previous  failure. 
Those  who  remained  and  forged  ahead  were  mostly  of  the  peasant  class 
and  were  inured  to  hard  labor  and  scant  living. 

•  Muench,  op.  cit.,  p.  19.  '  Oelshausen,  Staat  Missouri,  pp.  147-48. 

J  Muench,  Mississippi  Blaeller,  June  15,  1915. 


I70       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

An  important  step  toward  the  success  of  the  German  settlements  was 
the  introduction  of  wine-growing  at  Hermann  by  immigrants  from  the 
Rhine.  In  1845  there  were  50,000  vines  at  this  place;  in  1846,  150,000; 
in  1848,  500,000;  and  in  1849,  700,000.  In  the  last-mentioned  year  it 
was  predicted  that  the  wine  crop  of  a  few  townships  in  Gasconade  County 
would  be  of  greater  value  than  the  hemp  crop  of  the  state. ^  The  success 
of  grapes  at  Hermann  led  to  the  extensive  planting  of  vineyards  at  Ste. 
Genevieve,  at  Boonville,  and  in  Franklin,  Warren,  and  St.  Charles  coun- 
ties.^ The  vineyards  were  located  on  loess  hillsides,^  which  afforded 
warm  soil,  excellent  drainage,  and  protection  from  unseasonable  frosts. 
They  were  supposed  by  vintners  of  the  time  to  benefit  by  their  nearness 
to  a  large  stream.  The  climate  was  said  to  be  better  than  in  the  Rhine 
country  because  of  the  sunny  fall  weather,  which  permitted  the  grapes  to 
ripen  with  high  flavor.'*  Previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  grape, 
Hermann,  with  its  mediocre  farmland,  had  been  losing  by  emigration. 
The  splendid  harvest  of  the  year  18^8  caused  people  to  seek  again  this 
place, 5  and  thereafter  the  community  flourished.  In  1856  a  yield  of 
100,000  gallons  was  reported  for  Hermann  at  a  profit  of  $300  per  acre  and 
of  6,000  gallons  for  Boonville.^  In  1857  Hermann  claimed  a  production 
of  80,000  gallons'  and  in  1858  of  25,000  gallons,  which  was  said  to  be 
an  average  yield.*  The  price,  originally  about  $2  a  gallon,  had  fallen  by 
1858  to  $1.25,9  which  still  enabled  very  profitable  production.  In 
spite  of  the  vicissitudes  of  grape  culture  Hermann  adhered  to  this 
occupation.  A  large  wine  trade  was  built  up;  a  local  wine  cellar  became 
one  of  the  sights  of  the  state;  and  Hermann  wines  became  known 
throughout  the  country. 

LATER   immigration;    SPREAD   OF   THE   GERMAN   SETTLEMENTS 

After  1848-49  the  immigrants  were  mostly  of  the  peasant  class, 
recruited  from  north,  south,  and  middle  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
Alsace,  and  they  came  for  the  primary  purpose  of  bettering  their  eco- 
nomic  condition.     The  large   surplus  rural  population  of   Germany 

'  Western  Journal  and  Civilian,  III,  53-54. 

2  Muench,  Staat  Missouri,  p.  138. 

3  Swallow,  Geol.  Rept.  of  Southwestern  Branch  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  of  Missouri, 
p.  10. 

*  Baudissin,  Der  Ansiedler  im  Missouri  Staate,  pp.  89-90. 

5  Ibid. 

6  Swallow,  op.  cit.,  p.  18.  *  Ibid.,  XL,  128. 
1  Hunt's  Merchants'  Mag.,  XXXIX,  385.             » Ibid. 


GERM  A  N  IMMIGRA  TION  1 7 1 

resulted  in  rapid  emigration,  which  spread  over  many  states  in  this 
country,  and  of  which  Missouri,  containing  numerous  estabHshed  Ger- 
man settlements  and  much  cheap  land,  received  its  share.  In  i860  there 
were  95,000  people  of  German  birth  in  the  state,  of  whom  Franklin 
County  had  4,951;  Gasconade,  3,137;  Cape  Girardeau,  2,843;  Jeffer- 
son, 2,112;  Cole,  2,069;  Osage,  2,057;  Cooper,  1,923;  Perry,  1,800; 
and  Ste.  Genevieve,  1,231.'  Figures  including  those  born  in  America  of 
German  parentage  would  be  considerably  higher.  Large-scale  immigra- 
tion ceased  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  Land  became  too  high-priced  for 
indigent  immigrants.  Moreover,  the  development  of  industries  in  Ger- 
many subsequent  to  1870  furnished  occupation  for  the  surplus  rural 
population. 

The  expansion  of  the  German  settlements  has  been  in  the  main  by 
compact  growth  along  stream  courses  and  from  poor  to  better  land. 
The  immigrants  were  clannish  and  settled  amid  the  older  German  com- 
munities of  eastern  Missouri.  These  people  worked  harder  and  lived 
on  less  than  the  Americans,  and  so  gradually  accumulated  wealth  with 
which  they  bought  out  their  American  neighbors,  who  were  owners  of 
rich  bottoms  or  prairie  land.  Muench  described  the  process  of  expansion 
in  1859  thus:  "The  Germans  located  first  along  the  valleys,  intruding 
themselves  between  the  Americans,  here  and  there  accumulating  greater 
numbers,  so  that  settlements  wholly  or  mostly  German  were  formed, 
which  expanded  more  and  more  in  all  directions.  The  Americans  either 
find  it  to  their  advantage  to  sell  their  land  to  the  Germans,  or  do  so 
because  they  do  not  like  to  live  among  the  Germans."^  The  American 
of  the  early  days  felt  slight  attachment  to  his  homestead  and  was  usually 
ready  to  seek  a  new  home  farther  west.  It  was  said  of  him :  ''The  whole 
country  is  the  fatherland  to  which  he  is  attached;  the  place  of  habitation 
is  of  subordinate  importance."^  The  German,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
decidedly  not  a  frontiersman  and  was  willing  to  pay  a  good  price  for  the 
privilege  of  living  near  his  countrymen. ••  This  process  of  displacement 
continued  until  nearly  the  whole  Missouri  River  Border  and  a  large  part 
of  the  Mississippi  River  Border  were  occupied  by  settlers  of  German 
stock. 

By  1859  the  German  settlements  of  Washington  and  Hermann  had 
become  important  towns;  Jefferson  City  was  half  German,  and  Boonville 

•  Census  of  i860.  '  Muench,  op.  cil.  (1859),  p.  76. 
^  Oelshausen,  op.  cit.,  p.  67. 

*  Baudissin,  op.  cit.,  p.  161;  Zimmennann,  loc.  cil. 


172       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

one-fourth.'  German  was  taught  in  the  schools  of  Hermann,  Wash- 
ington, and  Jefferson  City.^  By  this  time  many  German  farmers  had 
purchased  Missouri  River  bottom  farms. ^  In  time  they  occupied  the 
great  majority  of  farms  in  the  Missouri  flood  plain  as  far  as  the  Boonslick 
country,  into  which  they  penetrated  only  in  Cooper  County.  Similarly 
the  creek  bottoms  and  ridge  lands  near  the  Missouri  passed  into  German 
hands.  St.  Charles,  Franklin,  Warren,  Gasconade,  and  Osage  counties 
became  overwhelmingly  German.  In  1888  a  biographical  record  of 
Gasconade  County*  included  131  men  of  German  birth  or  parentage  as 
against  9  natiV^e  Americans.  In  Franklin  County  there  were  enumerated 
168  of  German  stock  against  about  one  hundred  of  all  other  sources. 
Cole  County  was  estimated  to  be  half  German  in  1875.^ 

Except  for  a  large  colony  on  the  prairie  at  Cole  Camp  in  Benton 
County*  the  German  settlements  did  not  extend  much  beyond  the  river 
tier  of  counties.  In  Crawford  and  Phelps  counties  they  are  found  on  the 
headwaters  of  the  Bourbeuse,  and  in  Maries  County  they  have  occupied 
most  of  the  bottom  farms  of  the  Big  and  Little  Maries.  Their  expansion 
south  from  the  Missouri  ceased  at  the  edge  of  the  rough  country,  as  had 
that  of  the  original  American  immigration  at  an  earlier  date. 

In  the  Mississippi  River  Border  they  acquired  a  majority  in  Ste. 
Genevieve,  Cape  Girardeau,  and  Perry  counties,  and  a  strong  minority 
in  Jefferson  County.  In  this  region  they  occupied  most  of  the  Spring- 
field and  loess  lands  and  a  large  part  of  the  Hagerstown  and  alluvial 
lands.  In  the  vicinity  of  Farmington  and  Fredericktown  numerous 
families  settled  in  the  rich  basins  of  Fredericktown  soil,  and  thereb}' 
introduced  after  a  time  a  German  element  into  these  two  cities.  Farther 
west  the  poor  land  of  the  igneous  knobs  and  flint  hills  blocked  further 
expansion.  * 

As  the  river  districts  became  densely  populated  they  in  turn  founded 
daughter-colonies  farther  west,  where  land  was  cheaper.  Most  of  these 
were  in  the  loess  districts  of  Jefferson  and  Saline  counties,  western  Mis- 
souri, and  in  Brown  County,  Kansas.  Later  southwest  Missouri,  espe- 
cially the  fertile  prairies  of  Lawrence  County,  received  a  considerable 
immigration  from  the  river  counties.  At  present  St.  Louis  is  attracting 
many,  but  the  percentage  which  is  leaving  the  farm  for  the  city  is  not 

'  Muench,  op.  ciL,  p.  205. 

■  =  Ibid.,  pp.  164-65.  ,  ^  Ibid.,  p.  27. 

"  Hist,  of  Franklin  and  Jejferson  Counties. 
5  Muench,  Staat  Missouri  (1875),  P-  i40-  '  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


GERMAN  IMMIGRATION 


173 


so  great  as  among  the  Anglo-American  stock.     The  large  infusion  of 
German  blood  into  the  river  counties  of  the  state  is  shown  in  Fig.  27. 

Stability  remains  the  most  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  Ger- 
man stock.  Where  Germans  have  located  in  most  cases  they  have 
remained.  The  selling  of  real  estate  is  not  a  thriving  business  in  their 
communities.     Property  is  handed  down  from  father  to  son,  and  in  many 


T 


•^^U-l"!    'li-ii'l!'^i^^.: 


'::Mmmm^~^( 


__. _,j 


iJtjlUliL'F     I       h 


I 


i>>.iUiLx>., 


iTt'IUifTiHiTr-'— -^^ 


I         I    icss  >-«N  S  •m  ttwT 

IIIIIJI        5    TO     to    'l»    CtST 


10  TO  15  PCI  CIS' 
15  TO  25  PCft  cent 

Z/^Oi        ?5  TO    3S    M«    ftNT 


null      3b   I.J   2J  'ix  CI-' 

SO    ^tn    CC^T     ANO    OVCA 


Fig.  27. — Distribution  of  population  in  Missouri  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage. 
This  figure  does  not  show  racial  extraction  beyond  the  second  generation  {Thirteenth 
Census,  Statistical  Atlas,  plate  on  p.  1666). 

cases  the  descendants  of  the  original  entrymen  still  retain  the  land. 
Because  of  this  stability  of  ownership  their  improvements  surpass  in 
durability,  if  not  in  elegance,  those  of  any  other  group  of  farmers.  They 
build  by  preference  of  stone  or  brick.  Where  good  stone  is  available,  as 
at  Westphalia  and  Hermann,  one  sees  not  only  stone  houses,  but  stone 
barns,  sheds,  and  fences.     Their  towns,  built  of  high  houses  situated 


174        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGH  LA  XD  OF  MISSOURI 


directly  on  the  streets,  which  are  paved  and  carefully  kept,  have  decidedly 
an  Old  World  appearance.  They  still  have  the  reputation  of  being  the 
most  careful  farmers  and  are  rather  slow  to  adopt  innovations,  but  they 
are  ready  to  make  changes  the  merit  of  which  is  fully  demonstrated. 
They  retain  in  large  part  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  as  they  do  their 
language.  The  degree  of  racial  tenacity  is  not  dependent  upon  the 
place  of  extraction,  whether  Low  or  High  German,  Swiss  or  Prussian, 
but  upon  the  compactness  and  isolation  of  the  settlement.  Rural 
communities,  remote  from  railroads,  as  Westphalia  and  Altenburg, 
may  be  nearly  as  pronouncedly  German  as  they  were  at  the  date  of  their 
founding,  more  than  eighty  years  ago.  The  railroad  towns,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  by  their  superior  accessibility  losing  their  German  traits 
rapidly. 


PART  III 
RECENT  ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS 


CHAPTER  Xir 

THE  UXBfPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES 

DISTRIBUTION   AND   OWNERSHIP 

The  greater  part  of  the  Ozark  Highland  consists  of  unimproved,  so- 
called  wild  land,  covered  with  forest  or  brush.  This  land  either  has 
steep  slopes  or  is  so  remote  from  lines  of  transportation  that  it  has  not 
l>een  profitable  to  clear  it.     As  shown  in  Fig.  28,  all  the  larger  streams, 


^. 


'5  -^^'^^m-^X'' 


Fig.  28. — Land  too  rough  for  fidd  cultivation.    Shaded  axcas  indicate  mafonty 

of  surface  too  rough  (Marbut,  t'-S.  Eur.  Soils,  PU14  Reports,  191 1). 

except  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  are  lx)rdered  by  a  wide  belt  of 
rugged  hill  country,  which  in  the  main  is  unsuited  to  field  cultivation. 
The  areas  of  wild  land  are  largest  in  the  Courtois  Hills  and  in  the  Osage- 
Gasconade  Hills.     Next  in  order  are  the  WTiite  River  Hills  and  the 

'  All  statistics  in  Part  III,  unJcaa  otherwise  noted,  are  from  the  Thirtemih  Censut. 
Personal  observation  in  detail  does  not  extend  beyond  the  year  1916.  Since  then 
economic  values,  here  as  elsewhere,  have  been  greatly  disturbed.  The  economic 
cooditkma  brought  about  by  the  recent  war  are  not  considered  here.  They  have  of 
course  been  terious,  especially  in  the  draining  off  of  population  to  industrial  center  a 
outside  of  the  OaarlLS.  Changes  have  been  less  revotntiaoary,  however,  than  in  Icaa 
isolated  districts.  Occupations  are  essentially  unciianged,  and  even  prices  have 
been  less  affected  than  elsewhere. 

»77 


1 78       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


St.  Francois  region.  In  the  Clarksville  soil  areas  of  the  Courtois  and 
Osage-Gasconade  regions  probably  not  much  more  than  i  per  cent  of  the 
land  is  cleared.  Areas  half  a  dozen  miles  square  have  no  upland  clearings 
larger  than  five  or  six  acres.  On  some  of  the  ridges  in  these  sections  one 
can  travel  a  dozen  miles  without  seeing  a  field  or  a  house.  Fig.  29 
represents  the  distribution  of  cleared  land  in  a  small  Clarksville  soil 
area  of  the  eastern  border.  The  clearings  are  limited  to  coves  in  valleys 
and  a  few  ridge  crests.  Though  small  and  discontinuous,  they  are 
more  numerous  than  in  similar  areas  in  the  interior  of  the  Ozarks. 
The  table  below  shows  the  small  amount  of  improved  land  in  the  hill 
sections  as  compared  with  the  border  regions  and  the  Central  Plateau. 
The  Springfield  Plain  has  the  least  unimproved  land  of  any  part  of  the 
Ozarks.  Percentage  of  total  area  of  improved  farm  land  for  selected 
counties  is  as  follows: 


Percent- 
age 

Missouri  River  Border 

Cooper. .  . .' 76 

Cole 51 

Franklin 47 

Gasconade 38 

Mississippi  River  Border 

Cape  Girardeau 60 

Perry 53 

Jefferson 40 

Ste.  Genevieve 34 

Springfield  Plain 

Lawrence 74 

Greene 71 

Jasper 67 

Newton 55 

Si.  Francois  Region 

St.  Francois 2)2) 

Courtois  Hills 

Crawford 24 

Wayne 19 

Reynolds 11 

Shannon 10 

Carter 9 


Percent- 
age 

St.  Francois  and  Courtois  Regions 

Madison 21 

Washington 20 

Iron .• 14 

Osage-Gasconade  Hills 

Pulaski 27 

Camden 25 

White  River  Hills 

Stone 27 

Taney 16 

Central  Plateau 

Polk 52 

Webster 48 

Dallas 44 

Howell 30 

Central  Plateau  and  Courtois  Hills 

Oregon 22 

Ripley 19 

Central  Plateau  and  White  River- 
Hills 

Ozark 19 


The  greater  part  of  the  wild  land  belongs  to  farms,  which  contain 
as  a  rule  a  far  smaller  combined  acreage  of  fields  and  cleared  pastures 
than  they  do  of  woods  (Figs.  31,  32).     Especially  in  the  poorer  counties 


THE  UNIMPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES 


179 


C/eartJ  lanJ 


the  woodlands  belonging  to  farms  form  forests  miles  in  extent,  in  which 
many  individual  holdings  are  included.  The  unimproved  land  is  held 
in  small  esteem.  Land  is  valued  usually  according  to  its  agricultural 
productiveness,  and  land  not  suited  for  cultivation  brings  a  nominal 
price,  rarely  in  excess  of  five  dollars  an  acre  and  often  much  less.  Farm- 
ers not  uncommonly  state  as  the  size  of  their  farms  the  acreage  of  cleared 
land,  the  rest  being  considered  negligible,  although  it  may  be  much  the 
larger  part. 

Fig.  30  shows  the  percentage  of  land  area  in  farms.  In  Carter  and 
Reynolds  counties  the 
percentage  is  only  27.5. 
In  these  counties  large 
tracts,  in  a  number  of  in- 
stances tens  of  thousands 
of  acres,  are  owned  by 
nonresidents.  Companies 
have  bought  land  for 
lumber,  for  mineral  pros- 
pects, or  merely  for  spec- 
ulative purposes.  Most 
of  it  was  secured  very 
cheaply,  some  under  the 
Graduation  Act  for  \2\ 
cents  per  acre  and  some 
at  sheriff's  sales,  on  the 
assumption  that  any  land 
purchased  at  such  prices 
must  be  a  profitable  in- 
vestment. In  some  of  the  hill  counties  there  remain  small  areas  of 
public  land. 


Fig.  29. — Relation  of  cleared  land  to  forest  in 
a  portion  of  the  Clarksville  soil  area.  Clearings 
are  of  two  types  only,  those  on  ridge  tops  and  those 
on  valley  floors. 


TIMBER   AND   ITS   USES 


Timber  is  the  most  important  resource  and  the  chief  product  of  the 
wild  land.  In  the  Courtois  Hills  forest  products  exceed  farm  crops  in 
value. 

Pine  timber,  long  the  most  valuable  forest  product,  is  approaching 
exhaustion  rapidly,  due  to  its  exploitation  for  nearly  a  century.  The 
large  pine  forests  of  early  days  have  long  since  disappeared  and  are 
succeeded  mainly  by  oaks.  In  remote  parts  of  the  southern  counties 
small  stands  on  poor  uplands  have  escaped  destruction.     In  Douglas 


i8o       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


County,  on  the  state  boundary,  there  is  a  pine  forest  which  was  estimated 
some  years  since  to  contain  i  per  cent  of  the  timber  of  the  county/ 
In  1904  pine  was  estimated  to  represent  8  per  cent  of  the  timber  of  Taney 
County,  which  is  in  one  of  the  most  difficultly  accessible  parts  of  the 
Ozark  Highland.^  In  recent  years  the  cutting  of  pine  timber  has  been 
perhaps  most  extensive  in  the  rough  hills  of  Reynolds,  Shannon,  and 


20  TO  40  Pe«  CC««T 
*0  TO  60  PC  »^CST 
60  TO  60  Pt«  ctNT 
80  TO  90  p£cceNT 
Effri  90  TO  95  P£»C{"T 
95  TO  100  PERCEXf 


Fig. 30. 
Atlas). 


-Percentage  of  land  in  farms  in  Missouri  (Thirteenth  Census,  Statistical 


Carter  counties,  with  Birch  Tree,  Winona,  and  Grandin  the  leading 
lumber  camps. ^  This  southern  part  of  the  Courtois  Hills  is  tapped  by 
logging  railroads  which  connect  with  the  main  line  of  the  Iron  Mountain 
Railroad.  These  roads  are  extended  from  time  to  time  into  areas  of 
uncut  timber.  Their  construction  has  not  been  so  difficult  a  matter 
as  the  broken  topography  would  indicate.     The  roads  have  been  built 


State  of  Missouri  (1904),  p.  382. 
Ibid.,  p.  526. 


i  Ibid.,  p.  517. 


THE  UNIMPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES 


i8l 


invariably  along'  the  even  crests  of  the  old  peneplain,  and,  although  their 
courses  are  sinuous,  expensive  grading  is  not  necessary.  According  to 
the  very  fragmentary  figures  which  are  available,  Reynolds  and  Shan- 
non counties  are  still  the  leading  producers  of  lumber,  their  shipments 
in  191 2  amounting  to  30,244,000  and  21,020,000  feet  respectively,  mostly 
pine  lumber.'  The  stationary  mills  are  able  to  maintain  themselves  only 
where  lumber  may  be  floated  down  from  large  areas  or  where  it  is  carried 


[imi  (10-119  HJH  loo-io^Bl  L«*t+UH  loo 

Fig.  31, — Average  size  of  farms  in  acres 

in  by  logging  railroads.  As  all  these  favored  locations  have  been 
exploited  to  a  considerable  degree,  the  days  of  large  operators  are  draw- 
ing to  a  close  rapidly.  Pine  lumber  is  being  cut  to  an  increasing  extent 
by  small  portable  mills  which  can  operate  economically  on  small  tracts 
at  great  distances  from  the  railroad. 

The  predominance  of  oak  timber  in  the  Ozark  forests  is  becoming 
more  marked  from  year  to  year,  partially  because  of  its  resistance  to 
fire  and  its  success  in  coppicing  and  consequent  survival  in  cut-over 

'  State  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Missauri,  1912,  iqtj,  1914. 


l82       GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


tracts.  The  other  kinds  of  timber,  such  as  hickory,  walnut,  sugar 
maple,  tulip  tree,  and  gum,  are  chiefly  in  very  mixed  stands,  in  small 
groves  on  the  lower  valley  slopes.  The  high  value  of  walnut  and  tulip 
wood  has  resulted  in  the  removal  of  much  of  this  timber. 

The  exploitation  of  the  hardwoods  is  carried  on  for  the  most  part  by 
small  occasional  operators,  as  the  mixed  sizes  of  most  of  the  timber  do 
not  favor  the  logging  off  of  large  tracts.  A  conspicuous  exception  is  in 
Crawford  and  Iron  counties,  where  an  extension  of  the  Sligo  and  Eastern 
Railroad  has  been  constructed,  primarily  to  secure  fuel  for  the  charcoal 


-- .^'f"'y,.V— oo^ei-As— -1 > •,  1;  \ 


TRW6Y 


lr.o.tK.n,QoniD30^o99  ^^^80  to  as     ^^70  to  79 

Fig.  32. — Average  number  of  acres  of  improved  land  per  farm 


furnaces  at  Sligo.  Here  clean  cutting  is  practiced.  The  small  timber  is 
used  for  charcoal,  the  larger  is  cut  into  ties  and  saw  logs.  A  late 
development  in  clean  cutting  on  a  large  scale  is  by  the  elaborate  wood- 
distilling  plant  at  Midco,  Carter  County. 

Ties  are  the  most  important  hardwood  product  of  the  Ozarks.  They 
are  cut  preferably  from  white  or  post  oak,  but  other  oak  also  is  used 
extensively.  All  sections  except  the  Springfield  Plain  are  important 
producers.  In  191 2  twenty-five  counties  reported  shipments  in  excess 
of  100,000  ties  each.     According  to  figures  compiled  by  railroad-station 


THE  UNIMPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES  183 

agents,  Douglas  County  shipped  in  this  year  1,500,000  ties;  Crawford, 
8,^7,000;  Ripley,  808,000;  Wayne,  750,000;  Iron,  536,000;  and  Stone, 
500,000.'  Production  is  largest' at  present  in  the  more  isolated  sections, 
as  the  continued  demand,  especially  by  railroads  operating  in  the  prairie 
country  to  the  north  and  west,  has  resulted  in  the  rapid  depletion  of  tie 
timber  in  the  more  accessible  counties.  The  possibility  of  floating  ties 
out  has  made  tie  cutting  profitable  at  long  distances  from  a  railroad. 
The  returns  of  the  industry  are  paid  out  mostly  for  labor  in  cutting  and 
hauling.  Ties  at  rail  points  in  1914  brought  commonly  twenty-five  to 
forty-five  cents  each,  but  on  the  stump  rarely  more  than  ten  cents  and 
in  many  cases  only  five.  The  difference  paid  the  cost  of  making  and 
transportation  and  the  commission  of  the  contractor.  Ties  are  made  in 
three  ways:  (i)  in  winter,  by  farmers  who  thus  find  occupation  on  their 
wood  lots  for  an  otherwise  non-productive  season,  (2)  at  sawmills, 
usually  as  a  by-product,  from  timber  too  small  to  be  used  for  saw  logs, 
and  (3)  by  "tie  hackers."  These  work  either  in  the  employ  of  tie  con- 
tractors or  independently.  They  usually  build  shacks  in  the  forest, 
where  they  live  in  primitive  and  lonely  fashion.  Tie  hackers  are  looked 
down  upon  by  the  farming  population  and  often  are  a  somewhat  lawless 
element.  When  the  tie  timber  has  been  exhausted  at  one  locality,  they 
move  to  another,  rarely  remaining  at  one  place  more  than  a  few  years. 
They  accumulate  few  possessions  and  develop  slight  social  inclinations. 
Finished  ties  either  are  hauled  by  wagon  to  a  railroad  station,  usually 
much  to  the  detriment  of  the  roads,  or  are  floated  down  a  stream.  Often 
they  are  piled  high  along  the  banks  of  small  creeks,  and  when  the  stream 
rises  sufficiently  the  ties  are  pushed  in  hurriedly,  so  that  they  may  be 
carried  out  to  a  larger  stream  before  the  water  recedes.  Plate  XV  a 
is  a  scene  from  Crawford  County;  all  available  hands  are  helping, 
although  it  is  Sunday,  usually  observed  strictly,  in  order  to  get  the  ties 
down  the  fast-falling  creek.  On  the  river  ties  are  made  into  rafts  and 
floated  many  miles  to  a  convenient  railroad  point.  The  rafting  of  ties 
is  especially  important  on  the  Osage  River,  largely  to  the  railhead  at 
Bagnell. 

Poles,  posts,  and  mine  props  are  produced  according  to  demand. 
The  largest  shipments  of  poles  and  posts  were  from  Douglas  County, 
which  sent  out  2,000,000  in  1912.^  The  local  demand  for  telephone 
poles  and  fence  posts  is  supplied  easily  in  nearly  every  vicinity.  In 
addition  cedar  posts  are  shipped  to  distant  markets,  principally  from 
the  glade  lands.     Mine  timbers  arc  cut  from  small  stock.     Because  of 

'  Missouri,  1912,  igij,  1914.  '  Ibid. 


184       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

the  abundant  supply  and  low  price,'  usually  about  two  cents  a  linear 
foot,  they  are  produced  only  in  those  border  counties  which  are  near 
mining  regions.  The  Missouri  River  Border  sends  large  numbers  to 
the  coal  mines  of  northern  Missouri. 

Cooperage  is  produced  in  stave  mills  in  many  places.  As  good  oak 
lumber  is  required,  the  mills  rarely  remain  at  one  place  more  than  a  few 
years,  after  which  they  seek  a  new  location  where  the  large  timber  has 
not  been  cut.  According  to  available  statistics  the  industry  of  191 2  was 
prosecuted  most  vigorously  in  Bollinger  County,  which  shipped  out 
1,116  cars  of  cooperage.  Cape  Girardeau  shipped  372  cars  and  Rey- 
nolds 104.^  In  a  few  places  specialty  wood  products  are  made  of  oak 
lumber,  such  as  flooring  for  railroad  cars  and  telephone  and  telegraph 
brackets.  A  number  of  handle  factories  create  a  local  demand  for 
second-growth  hickory. 

In  addition  to  the  fuel  produced  for  the  Sligo  iron  industry,  charcoal 
is  made  especially  in  Jefferson  County,  which  shipped  284  cars  in  191 2; 
Osage,  72;  Cole,  55;  and  Pulaski,  28.  These  counties  have  direct  rail 
connections  with  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City,  where  charcoal  finds  ready 
sale.  The  charcoal  is  made  mostly  from  small  timber.  Wood  is  the 
only  fuel  used  on  most  farms  and  is  also  employed  much  more  largely 
than  coal  in  most  villages  and  small  cities. 

HUNTING   AND   TRAPPING 

Hunting  and  trapping  are  no  longer  of  much  commercial  significance, 
the  professional  hunter  and  trapper  being  virtually  extinct.  In  remote 
sections  hunting  is  still  an  important  part  of  farm  life.  By  his  gun 
and  traps  the  native  of  the  hills  secures  a  considerable  part  of  his  supply 
of  fresh  meat  as  well  as  peltry  to  trade  in  at  the  country  store.  In  many 
of  the  hill  sections  the  settler  still  asserts,  regardless  of  state  laws,  the 
right  of  the  frontiersman  to  hunt  when,  where,  and  how  he  pleases  and 
maintains  the  same  freedom  for  his  hunting  associate,  the  hound.  The 
more  poorly  developed  the  country  the  greater  is  the  number  of  hounds 
kept.  In  many  cases  these  procure  the  principal  part  of  their  food  from 
the  forests,  and  are  therefore  very  destructive,  especially  of  young  game 
and  eggs.  Potentially  the  Ozarks  are  a  magnificent  game  preserve  for 
the  fast-disappearing  wild  life  of  the  Middle  West.  Before  this  can  take 
place,  however,  the  native  of  the  hills  must  realize  more  fully  that  he 
can  no  longer  be  a  law  unto  himself  and  that  he  must  restrain  his  gun  and 
his  dogs  in  accordance  with  the  game  laws  of  the  state. 

'  Missouri,  I gi 2,  1 91  J,  I gi 4. 


THE  UNIMPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES  185 

In  the  mind  of  many  natives  of  the  Ozark  Center  laws  of  trespass  do 
not  exist  for  the  wild  land.  Whatever  land  is  not  farmed  is  considered 
semipublic  property,  in  which  one  may  hunt  and  graze  his  stock  and 
which  may  supph-  in  some  cases  the  household  needs  of  fuel.  The 
natives  will  not  hesitate  to  lay  ax  to  a  bee  tree  or  to  one  on  which  a 
raccoon  has  taken  refuge.  Foreign  landowners  who  attempt  to  exclude 
them  from  the  free  passage  and  use  of  wooded  lands  commonly  meet  with 
strong  resentment  and  occasionally  with  resistance.  It  has  happened 
that  a  large  cut-over  tract,  which  was  fenced  for  pasturage,  has  had  its 
fences  cut  to  shreds  repeatedly  because  the  neighboring  small  farmers 
felt  that  they  had  a  right  to  pasture  their  stock  on  it.  This  attitude  is 
a  relic  of  pioneer  days,  when  the  settler,  at  best,  held  title  to  forty  or 
eighty  acres  and  derived  most  of  his  livelihood  from  the  public  domain. 

THE   FREE   RANGE 

A  large  part  of  the  wild  land  still  constitutes  a  free  range.  Stock 
law,  which  makes  the  owner  responsible  for  all  unconfined  stock,  has 
been  introduced  only  in  the  better  parts  of  the  border  regions,  and  usually 
only  after  a  spirited  contest  between  the  farmers  interested  in  crop  raising 
and  the  poorer  farmers  of  the  old  regime.  Elsewhere  whatever  land  is 
not  under  fence  is  free  to  anybody's  stock.  Most  of  the  range  is  very 
poor,  especially  for  cattle.  The  grass-covered  hills  of  the  early  days  have 
been  replaced  for  the  most  part  by  a  dense  growth  of  oak  sprouts. 
The  ceasing  of  grass  fires,  the  clearing  of  smooth  land,  and  the  over- 
grazing of  the  remaining  area  have  caused  the  famous  bluestem  pasture 
grass  of  the  early  days  to  become  nearly  extinct.  In  a  few  remote  sec- 
tions of  the  southern  counties  cattle  still  do  well  on  the  range.  The 
nature  of  the  range  in  most  parts,  however,  is  such  that  the  production 
of  beef  of  good  quality  is  out  of  the  question.  In  spite  of  the  poor  graz- 
ing the  small  amount  of  care  which  stock  requires  on  the  free  range 
still  makes  it  the  principal  factor  in  stock  production  in  the  interior 
sections.  As  long  as  the  stock  finds  enough  feed  for  subsistence  the 
farmers  will  not  trouble  to  fence  and  seed  pastures.  As  long  as  cattle 
roam  at  will  accidental  breeding  prevents  the  grading  up  of  stock  to  any 
great  degree.  This  pioneer  custom  therefore  is  incompatible  with  pro- 
gressive agriculture. 

For  the  raising  of  hogs  conditions  are  much  better,  as  the  abundance 
of  acorns  and  other  mast  makes  the  average  range  fairly  good.  The 
region  produces  few  fat  hogs,  because  of  the  small  amount  of  corn  which  is 
fed,  but  yields  a  very  fair  bacon  type,  which  is  produced  at  almost  no 


i86       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

cost.  In  a  typical  case  a  farmer  sold  $500  worth  of  hogs,  to  which  he  had 
fed  altogether  only  twelve  bushels  of  corn  and  which  had  received  almost 
no  care.  The  half-wild  hog  of  the  hills  is  of  lighter  weight  and  worth 
less  than  the  corn-fed  hog.  In  1909  the  average  value  of  a  hog  in  corn- 
producing  Cooper  County  was  $7.60;  in  the  oak  forests  of  Shannon 
only  S4.20.  The  range  hogs  are  remarkably  free  from  disease,  and  it 
is  claimed  that  they  seldom  are  attacked  by  cholera. 

Stock  usually  is  marked  in  early  spring,  the  mark  of  the  owner  hav- 
ing been  recorded  at  the  courthouse.  Thereafter  the  animals  receive 
little  attention,  except  an  occasional  salting,  until  winter.  Bells  are 
attached  to  the  leaders  of  the  herd  so  that  the  farmer  can  locate  his 
animals.  Nearly  everywhere,  even  in  the  most  isolated  woods,  one 
hears  the  tinkle  of  bells,  which  are  attached  to  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  and 
turkeys.  In  some  sections  cattle  still  are  driven  to  distant  townships 
or  to  a  neighboring  county  when  the  grazing  at  home  becomes  scant. 

PROMOTION   SCHEMES 

The  large  areas  of  cheap  land  have  given  rise  from  time  to  time  to 
promotion  schemes.  For  this  business  the  region  possesses  unusual 
inducements.  The  Ozarks  are  near  large  centers  of  population.  They 
have  an  attractive  climate,  especially  to  northern  people.  The  region 
has  a  certain  reputation  for  fruit  growing.  The  pleasant  scenery  delights 
city  people  who  think  of  country  life  in  romantic  terms.  In  the  hands 
of  skilful  manipulators,  well-selected  illustrations  and  half-truths  are 
elaborated  artfully  from  these  points  of  attraction.  Visions  of  comfort- 
able country  homes  are  held  out  to  city  clerks  and  tradesmen  who  have 
tired  of  the  precariousness  and  routine  of  their  present  occupations. 
Fruit  orchards,  chicken  farms,  cattle  and  hog  ranches,  are  the  favorite 
projects  promoted.  Usually  the  very  poorest  land,  which  even  the 
natives  have  avoided,  is  chosen.  This  is  either  laid  out  in  small  tracts 
of  five  to  forty  acres,  or  a  stock  company  sells  shares  in  a  very  large 
tract.  In  either  case  the  profits  are  figured  on  the  basis  of  a  high  per 
acre  productiveness.  In  this  way  land  has  been  sold  for  fruit  orchards 
on  which  trees  could  have  been  planted  only  by  blasting  holes,  and 
chicken  ranches  have  been  promoted  in  inaccessible  localities  where  the 
production  of  grain  is  an  impossibility  and  even  grass  grows  with  diffi- 
culty. Some  of  the  land  which  has,  been  sold  for  purposes  of  intensive 
farming  is  so  rough  that  it  is  impossible  to  drive  a  wagon  over  it.  If 
properly  managed,  the  companies  clear  many  hundred  per  cent,  and  the 
investor  is  left  with  a  tract  of  land  that  is  nearlv  worthless  because  it  is 


THE  UNIMPROVED  LAND  AND  ITS  USES  187 

poor  and  is  too  small  to  be  put  to  any  practical  use.  Much  of  the 
land  is  sold  for  taxes  after  the  owners  are  disillusioned.  In  numerous 
cases  the  owner,  who  has  not  seen  the  land,  has  decided  to  quit  his  posi- 
tion and  move  to  his  "farm."  By  the  time  he  is  established  on  the  place 
a  large  part  of  his  savings  is  gone,  and  in  the  course  of  a  short  time  the 
remainder  is  lost  in  the  hopeless  effort  to  produce  a  living  there.  Finally 
the  settler  is  reduced  to  doing  odd  jobs  in  the  vicinity  at  very  low  wages, 
or,  if  fortunate,  returns  to  the  city  to  begin  over.  The  promotion  of 
these  schemes  has  not  only  unloaded  on  the  region  families  who  have 
become  its  wards,  but  has  discredited  the  Ozarks  entirely  in  the  minds 
of  many  people,  in  spite  of  their  not  inconsiderable  possibilities  of 
successful  development. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

FARMING  CONDITIONS 

SIZES   AND   VALUES   OF   FARMS 

With  the  exception  of  Atchinson  County  in  northwestern  Missouri, 
which  contains  one  of  the  largest  farms  in  the  world,  the  largest  average 
farms  of  the  state  are  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  borders  of  the 
Ozarks.  In  1910  Ste.  Genevieve  County  led  with  an  average  of  186.8 
acres,  then  came  Osage  with  172,  Warren  with  171,  and  Gasconade  with 
163  .8  (Fig.  31).  The  average  size  for  the  state  was  124.8  acres.  The 
largest  acreages  are  in  counties  which  contain  fair-sized  areas  of  moder- 
ately good  farmland  adjacent  to  larger  areas  of  rough  hill  land.  The 
farmers  of  these  counties  cultivate  about  the  same  number  of  acres  as 
those  of  the  other  border  sections  or  a  somewhat  smaller  acreage,  but 
their  farms  are  larger  because  there  is  more  rough  land.  The  smallest 
farms  of  the  Ozarks  are  in  the  Springfield  Plain,  where  non-agricultural 
land  is  least  in  amount.  In  Greene  County,  which  contains  not  only  a 
high  percentage  of  good  land  but  also  has  developed  truck  and  fruit 
farming,  the  average  farm  has  only  86 .  g  acres. 

Fig,  32  shows  the  average  acres  of  improved  land  to  each  farm,  and 
supplements  Fig.  31.  Of  forty-two  counties  of  Missouri  having  more 
than  one  hundred  acres  improved  per  farm,  only  one,  Cooper,  is  included 
in  the  Ozark  region,  and  it  is  decidedly  intermediate  in  character  between 
highland  and  prairie  plains.  Of  the  twelve  counties  in  the  state  aver- 
aging less  than  fifty  acres  improved  to  the  farm,  nine  are  in  the  Ozarks, 
two  in  the  swamp  district  of  southeast  Missouri,  and  the  remaining 
one  is  St.  Louis  County.  Of  those  in  the  Ozarks,  five  are  in  the  Courtois 
Hills,  three  in  the  White  River  Basin,  and  one  in  the  Osage-Gasconade 
Hills.  The  small  improved  acreage  in  these  counties  is  the  result  of  the 
following  factors:  (i)  The  small  amount  of  cultivable  land  available  in 
compact  bodies  makes  large  fields  impossible.  (2)  The  hill  land  requires 
more  labor  in  cultivation  than  prairie  or  bottom  land  and  does  not  admit 
so  readily  of  the  use  of  machinery.  (3)  The  difficulty  of  marketing 
field  crops  from  the  more  remote  sections  discourages  production  and  so 
tends  to  keep  down  the  acreage  of  tilled  land.  (4)  Poor  yields  from  poor 
soils  are  not  conducive  to  large-scale  farming,  (5)  Many  farms  have 
been  opened  recently  and  the  size  of  their  clearings  is  still  small. 

188 


FARMING  CONDITIONS  '  189 

In  parts  of  the  Ozark  Highland  there  is  a  marked  increase  in  improved 
land  from  year  to  year,  indicating  that  the  frontier  stage  is  not  yet  past. 
In  Carter,  Laclede,  Maries,  Miller,  Oregon,  Ripley,  Shannon,  Webster, 
and  Wright  counties  this  increase  has  been  25  per  cent  or  more  from  1900 
to  1910.     The  increase  has  been  approximately  35  per  cent  in  Maries 
County,  where  the  Rock  Island  Railroad  made  accessible  at  that  period 
a  large  area  of  fairly  smooth  upland,  which  previously  was  remote  from 
lines  of  transportation.     In  general,  the  extension  of  cultivated  land  is 
greatest  at  present  in  the  Central  Plateau,  where  there  still  remain  many 
tracts  of  smooth  upland,  mostly  of  cherty  Howell  soil,  which  if  cleared 
make  fairly  satisfactory  fierds  and  pastures.     These  tracts,  for  the  most 
part,  are  at  points  most  distant  from  rail  transportation.     Plate  XV  b 
illustrates  such  a  clearing  in  Howell  County.     In  the  southern  part  of 
the  Springfield  Plain,  especially  in  McDonald  and  Newton  counties, 
there  has  been  extensive  clearing  of  land  lately,  in  part  because  of  the 
building  of  the  Missouri  and  North  Arkansas  Railroad,  in  part  because 
of  the  attention  which  fruit  and  truck  growing  is  receiving  in  this  section. 
In  the  Missouri  River  Border  the  increase  for  the  decade  ranges  from  3  per 
cent  in  maturely  developed  Cooper  County  to  15  in  Gasconade  County, 
which  has  benefited  considerably  by  the  building  of  the  Rock  Island 
Railroad  through  its  southern  end.     In  the  St.  Francois  region  the 
extension  of  farmmg  area  has  been  almost  nil  because  the  rich  limestone 
soils  of  the  Fredericktown  basins  have  been  under  cultivation  a  long  time 
and  the  igneous  rock  soils  are  pemanently  non-agricultural.     Because 
of  the  extension  of  mining  operations  St.  Francois  County  has  even 
registered  a  slight  decrease  in  its  farm  area.     In  the  border  counties  the 
increase  in  cleared  land  is  mostly  by  the  addition  of  small  patches  to 
existing  fields  or  farms.     In  the  remote  sections,  especially  of  the  south, 
however,  one  may  still  see  numerous  recent  homesteads,  which  consist 
of  small  log  houses  standing  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  of  dead  trees,  between 
which  corn  has  been  planted.     Plate  XVI  a  shows  the  first  crop  of  corn 
in  a  clearing  that  has  been  made  by  cutting  out  the  brush  and  saplings 
and  by  girdling  the  larger  trees. 

Values  of  farmland  vary  with  fertility  of  soil,  proportion  of  culti- 
vable land,  and  facilities  for  marketing.  As  shown  in  Fig.  7,7,,  the  highest 
land  values  of  the  state  are  in  the  suburban  districts  of  the  large  cities, 
in  the  rich  northwestern  counties,  and  in  the  loess  counties  of  the  Mis- 
souri Valley  below  Kansas  City.  Cooper,  Jasper,  and  Greene,  alone  of 
the  Ozark  counties,  exceed  the  average  value  of  Missouri  farmland. 
In  Cooper  County,  with  its  loess  soils  and  large  stock  industry,  which 


190       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

belongs  as  much  to  the  prairie  region  as  to  the  Ozark  Border,  the  average 
value  of  farmland  in  1910  was  $56  .45  per  acre,  and  of  all  property  per 
farm  $10,513.  Jasper  County,  with  excellent  local  markets  at  the  mines, 
had  an  average  acre  value  of  $52  .  25  and  a  farm  value  of  $7,500.  Greene 
County  was  third  in  per  acre  value  with  $44  .73.  At  the  other  extreme 
are  Ozark,  Taney,  and  Shannon  counties.  Ozark  County  contains  a 
large  amount  of  very  rough  land,  especially  on  the  south;   it  is  also  in 


I  I    L£IStMAN  SlO  Ka«Cll 

SJ0T0  935  PEN  ACBC 

t3&  10  S60  PCa  ACBE 
9tO  TO  ST$  Pin  ACRC 
•75  ToSlOOrtn  «C«C 

pljfl    tlOO  TO  SI25  »!<•  Acrit 
9 1 S5  ««(0  evf  *  ^f  ■  *tn 


Fig.  33. — Land  values  in  Missouri,  1910  {Thirteenth  Census,  Historical  Atlas) 


one  of  the  most  inaccessible  sections  of  the  Ozarks  and  therefore  has  been 
little  developed.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  the  county  will  remain 
in  last  place,  as  it  has  possibilities  of  development  on  its  extensive  up- 
land "flat  woods."  In  Taney  County  farmland  is  cheap  because  of  the 
thin,  easily  eroded  Berr}-ville  soils  and  the  rough  topography.  Shannon 
County  is  in  the  heart  of  the  Courtois  flint  hills.  The  primitive  condi- 
tion of  agriculture  in  Ozark  County  is  attested  strikingly  by  an  average 
farm  value  for  the  county  as  a  whole  of  $1,662.  In  this  respect  Ripley 
County  is  second,  with  a  value  of  $2,043, 


FARMING  CONDITIOXS  191 


CROP   GROA\aNG 


The  total  value  of  all  crops  produced  in  any  Ozark,  county  in  1909 
exceeded  $1,920,000,  the  value  for  the  average  county  in  Missouri,  only 
in  the  following  counties: 


'e? 


Missouri  River  Border 

Cooper $3,096,121 

Franklin 2,934,343 

Springfield  Plain 

Greene 2,846,349 

Jasper 2,573,369 

Lawrence 2,557,447 

Newton 2,045,894 

Mississippi  River  Border 

Jefferson 2,195,193 

Cape  Girardeau 2,194,803 

The  Courtois  Hill  region,  including  the  entire  area  of  Reynolds,  Ripley, 
Shannon,  and  Carter  counties,  produced  in  the  aggregate  only  a  little 
in  excess  of  one  average  county. 

The  extremes  of  corn  production  in  the  Ozarks  in  1909  were:' 

County  Bushels  County  Bushels 

Cooper 3,006,339  Iron 232,239 

Greene 2,019,622  Carter 239,930 

Jasper 2,006,001  Madison 323,145 

Dade 1,810,770  Taney 370,562 

Polk 1,664,850  Stone 441,171 

Moniteau 1,658,078  St.  Francois 450,869 

The  Ozark  Border  regions,  with  their  more  fertile  lands  and  much  larger 
farm  areas,  are  much  heavier  producers  of  corn  than  is  the  Ozark  Center. 
The  superiority  of  the  Ozark  Border  over  the  Ozark  Center  is  brought 
out  more  particularly  by  the  following  per  acre  yields  (1905-14)  in 
bushels:^ 

'  The  figures  given  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  for  the  ten-year  period  1905- 
14  are:  Cooper,  2,700,000;  Greene,  2,077,000;  Jasper,  2,014,000;  Polk,  1,667,000; 
Franklin,  1,600,000;  Lawrence,  1,589,000;  Carter,  239,000;  Iron,  298,000;  Reynolds, 
331,000;   Madison,  422,000;   Shannon,  427,000;   St.  Francois,  432,000. 

'  Stale  Board  of  Agric.  Yearbook,  1916. 


192        GEOGRAPHY   OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Missouri  River  Border  Central  Plateau 

Cooper 34         Texas 20 

Franklin 30  Wright 23 

Moniteau 29  Dallas 23 

Mississippi  River  Border  Hill  sections 

Cape  Girardeau 32  Reynolds 21 

Perry 31  Shannon 21 

Jefferson 32         Douglas 21 

Springfield  Plain  Ozark 19 

Greene 27 

Jasper 26 

Lawrence 26 

Yields  in  the  Springfield  Plain  are  somewhat  more  likely  to  be  cut  down 
by  dry  weather  than  in  the  other  border  sections.  Fig.  ^3  represents 
the  yield  of  corn  per  square  mile  of  improved  farmland  for  all  counties 
entirely  or  in  part  within  the  Ozarks.  This  shows  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  corn-growing  in  various  sections,  as  only  equal  areas  which 
are  put  to  productive  farm  use  are  compared  and  the  waste  land  is 
disregarded.  The  heavy  production  on  the  northwestern  margin  of  the 
Ozarks  corresponds  to  the  most  extensive  area  of  loess  soils.  In  pro- 
portion to  the  area  farmed  the  southeastern  region,  which  includes  four 
of  the  poorest  counties  of  the  state,  Qomes  in  second  place.  Considering 
only  the  area  of  improved  land,  the  entire  Ozark  Center  ranks  high. 
On  this  basis  Camden  County,  in  the  poor  flint  hills  of  the  middle  Osage 
Basin,  belongs  in  the  same  class  with  wealthy  Cooper  County.  Of  the 
total  acreage  in  cereal  crops,  which  in  the  Ozarks  is  nearly  equivalent  to 
the  total  area  of  land  under  field  cultivation,  corn  occupies  a  much  higher 
percentage  in  the  Ozark  Center  than  in  the  Border.  Thus  in  the  border 
regions  corn  is  grown  on  the  following  percentages  of  the  total  cereal 
area:  Cooper  54,  Osage  45,  Cape  Girardeau  52,  Perry  46,  Greene  59. 
In  the  central  regions,  on  the  other  hand,  the  following  extremely  high 
percentages  are  found:  Taney  82,  Camden  87,  Carter  91,  and  Reynolds 
94.  In  the  poorest  part  of  the  state  therefore  the  greatest  relative 
attention  is  paid  to  the  cultivation  of  corn.  The  principal  reasons  are: 
(i)  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  southeastern  hill  counties,  as  well  as  Camden 
County,  lie  in  the  two  most  intricately  dissected  regions  of  the  Ozarks, 
•the  Courtois  and  the  Osage-Gasconade  Hills.  In  both  of  these  regions 
most  of  the  farmland  is  in  valleys,  which  include  the  large  and  very 
fertile  river  bottoms  of  the  Osage,  Black,  Current,  and  St.  Francois. 
These  lands  are  suited  splendidly  to  corn  culture.     (2)  Corn  is  the  tra- 


FARMING  CONDITIONS 


193 


ditional  crop  of  the  hill  farmers;  it  was  produced  by  their  grandfathers, 
and,  being  conservative  because  they  are  hill  people,  they  continue  to 
grow  it.  (3)  With  their  few,  cheap  tools  and  the  inefficient  cultivation 
which  is  customary  on  the  hill  farms,  it  is  probably  the  most  satisfactory 
crop.  There  are  still  some  farmers,  although  not  many,  whose  stock  of 
tools  consist  of  a  one-horse  plow,  a  homemade  harrow,  and  a  few  hoes. 
(4)  Many  sections  are  too  distant  from  the  railroad  to  haul  grain  to  the 
station.     In  such  localities  corn  growing  is  combined  with  stock  raising 


UUUJ 


,».rt6re^]>"^l«HT, 


M  E  »i  ran    ■' 


.'■----"i Liiiillli'      douGlbs       »* 


"*  B  A-ITRf  <S*me 


Mt  D0^»  ftCO  ' 


UUDlL..:. 


>    VftwEV     !      UJ^Ufl      •- 


1)  7000  av 
4-5000  BU. 


6-7  000  BU 
[  J3-4000  BU 


)^ — -t 

I  ' liJ^lIi.* 1 1 1 


Fig.  34. — Yield  of  corn  per  square  mile  of  improved  farmland 


to  the  best  advantage.  (5)  Corn  is  the  grain  of  most  general  utility  for 
household  use  and  stock.  Flour,  bran,  and  shorts  arc  not  readily  pro- 
curable in  remote  sections.  A  typical  cornfield  of  the  Central  Plateau 
is  shown  in  Plate  XV'I  b. 

Wheat  is  grown  most  largely  in  the  border  sections,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  35.  In  the  state  statistics  Franklin  ranks  second  among  Missouri 
wheat-growing  counties  for  the  period  1905-14.  The  figures  are:  Frank- 
lin, 1,016,000  bushels;  Jasper,  807,000;  Lawrence,  794,000;  Cooper, 
740,000.  In  1909  Franklin  led  the  counties  which  belong  in  major  part 
to  the  Ozarks  with  933,000  bushels,  Lawrence  following  with  874,000. 


194       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Carter,  Reynolds,  Butler,  and  Shannon  counties,  of  the  Ozark  Center, 
produced  less  than  10,000  bushels  each.  In  the  hill  counties  very  little 
is  produced,  in  part  because  of  the  difficulty  of  marketing,  in  part  because 
of  the  difficulty  of  preparing  the  seed  bed  adequately,  and  largely  because 
the  farmers  are  accustomed  to  grow  corn.  The  greatest  attention  to 
wheat  raising  is  paid  in  the  eastern  counties  of  the  Missouri  River  Border. 
These  contain  on  the  whole  less  loess  and  bottom  land  than  the  western 


ffm  1000-1500  BU.  QIIID5OO-I.O0OBO, 

\      I  0-xoo  au. 


Fig.  35. — Yield  of  wheat  per  square  mile  of  improved  farmland 


counties  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  more  of  the  Union,  Lebanon,  Howell, 
and  other  second-class  clay  upland  soils.  They  are  therefore  not  suited 
so  well  to  the  growing  of  corn  but  are  probably  adapted  equally  as  well 
to  wheat  culture.  The  heavy  production  of  wheat  in  counties,  such  as 
St.  Charles,  Franklin,  Warren,  and  Gasconade,  is  due,  moreover,  in  large 
measure  to  the  preponderance  of  German  farmers,  who  are  specialists 
in  the  growing  of  small  grains.  On  the  Mississippi  River  Border 
conditions  are  similar.  Here  too  there  is  a  large  German  population, 
and  the  extensive  areas  of  upland  soils  of  the  Springfield,  Hagerstown, 
and  Fredericktown  groups  are  well  suited  to  wheat.     On  the  limestone 


FARMING  CONDITIOXS 


195 


prairies  of  the  southwest  wheat  is  an  important  crop  but  much  less  so 
than  corn.  This  land  has  a  "  stronger ''  soil  than  have  the  uplands  of  the 
other  border  regions.  The  attention  which  stock  raising  receives  in  the 
district  also  tends  to  make  corn  rather  than  wheat  the  principal  crop. 
There  is  of  late  an  increase  in  wheat  culture  on  the  prairies  of  the  Central 
Plateau,  the  soils  of  which  are  somewhat  deficient  in  humus  and  are 
better  suited  to  wheat  as  a  basic  crop  than  they  are  to  corn. 


DDUDfOO -600  ay.      F-— >  200-^00  Bo-      I  1  O'XOO  Bu 


Fig.  36. — Yield  of  oats  per  square  mile  of  improved  farmland 

Oats  are  not  produced  extensively  (Fig.  36) ;  whereas  for  the  state  as 
a  whole  their  acreage  is  half  that  of  wheat;  for  the  Springfield  Plain,  the 
principal  producing  region  in  the  Ozarks,  the  ratio  is  little  better  than 
one  to  three.  In  the  Missouri  River  Border  the  ratio  is  less  than  one  to 
five.  Largely  because  crop  rotation  in  corn  farming  is  not  practiced 
commonly  in  the  Ozark  Center,  a  field  of  oats  is  a  rarety  in  this  section. 
As  a  whole  oats  are  not  a  profitable  crop  in  southern  Missouri,  being 
grown  chiefly  in  rotation  with  corn.  As  a  rule  the  grain  is  of  lighter 
weight  than  in  more  northern  states.  Yields  are  low,  being  less  than 
twenty-five  bushels  on  the  average  in  Greene,  the  county  of  largest  pro- 
duction. 


196       GEOGRAPHY   OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

In  the  production  of  hay  the  Ozark  Center  compares  very  favorably 
with  the  border  sections  (Fig.  37).  In  1909  Polk  County,  a  large  part 
of  which  belongs  to  the  Central  Plateau,  led  the  entire  Ozark  section  in 
total  yield,  with  47,042  tons  from  45,001  acres.  On  the  basis  of  produc- 
tion per  unit  area  of  improved  farmland  Carter  County  takes  first 
place,  with  Reynolds  and  Camden  counties  devoting  nearly  as  much 
attention  to  hay  farming .  The  greater  relative  importance  of  hay  in  the 
interior  sections  is  due  (i)  to  the  importance  of  stock  raising,  (2)  to  the 
insufficient  agricultural  labor  available  and  the  ease  of  production  of  a 
meadow  crop,  (3)  to  the  grass-growing  qualities  of  the  upland  clay  soils 
and  bottom  lands  of  the  interior,  and  (4)  to  the  fact  that  the  mediocre 
soils  of  the  interior  produce  grass  nearly  as  well  as  do  the  better  and  higher- 
priced  lands  of  the  Ozark  Border.  In  1909  average  yields  in  tons  per 
acre  for  selected  counties  were: 

Ozark  Center  Ozark  Border 

Laclede o .  93  Greene i .  09 

Crawford i .  01  Franklin .  i .  2 1 

Polk 1.05  Cooper 1.22 

Carter i .  12  Cape  Girardeau 1.27 

The  grade  of  hay  produced  in  the  interior  counties  is  poor  on  the  whole 
and  consists  of  timothy,  mixed  with  a  large  proportion  of  wild  grasses. 
Almost  no  clover  is  grown  in  the  interior  of  the  Ozarks,.  in  part 
because  of  backward  conditions  in  general,  and  in  minor  part  because 
some  of  the  soil  is  deficient  in  lime.  Of  the  47,042  tons  of  hay  grown  in 
Polk  County  only  863  were  clover.  In  the  more  progressive  border 
regions  the  value  of  clover  has  been  well  recognized,  and  in  the  Missouri 
and  Mississippi  River  borders  more  clover  is  produced  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  state.  Franklin,  with  14,581  tons  in  1909,  and  Jefferson  with 
14,195,  are  the  leading  clover-growing  counties  of  Missouri.  Yields 
nearly  as  large  are  reported  from  Cooper  and  Cape  Girardeau  counties. 
The  need  of  rotation  with  clover  has  been  .felt  most  keenly  in  the  old 
northeastern  counties  of  the  Ozarks,  as  the  land  here,  in  large  part  not 
of  the  highest  fertility  originally,  has  become  depleted  by  long  cropping. 
In  Jefferson  and  Franklin  counties  the  extension  of  dairying  is  in  part 
responsible  for  the  hign  clover  production.  As  a  whole  the  German 
farmers  have  taken  to  the  growing  of  clover  most  readily,  largely  because 
they  more  than  any  other  group  consider  their  farms  their  permanent 
homes.  In  the  last  few  years  the  growing  of  alfalfa  has  made  rapid 
strides,  the  bottom  lands  being  found  generally  suited  to  this  crop  with- 


FARMING  CONDITIONS 


197 


out  previous  inoculation.  The  results  are  too  recent  to  show  appreciably 
in  census  figures,  but  at  present  there  are  few  sections  of  the  northern 
and  eastern  borders  in  which  small  fields  are  not  numerous  and  increas- 
ing rapidly.  Alfalfa  is  also  finding  favor  among  the  better  stock  raisers 
of  the  interior  sections,  fine  fields  of  it  being  found  in  such  remote  sections 
as  Taney  and  Ozark,  counties.  Because  of  their  rapid  growth  cowpeas 
are  planted  usually  in  June  or  July  in  the  wheat  stubble.  They  should 
form  an  important  rotation  crop  for  forage  and  soil  restoration  but  are 


r^^-w-^tnlll 


\\o~\x  roNs 

Fig.  37. — Yield  of  hay  per  square  mile  of  improved  farmland 


not  grown  to  any  large  extent,  except  on  the  poorer  uplands  of  the 
border  regions.  Most  of  the  alluvial,  loess,  and  limestone  soils  are  well 
adapted  to  legumes.  In  most  places  where  they  do  not  succeed  the 
corrective  is  at  hand  in  abundant  outcrops  of  limestone.  The  general 
introduction  of  leguminous  crops  into  the  farm  husbandry  appears 
therefore  to  be  only  a  question  of  time. 

Millet  is  a  crop  of  some  importance  on  the  poorer  lands  and  is  grown 
especially  in  dry  seasons,  when  the  young  corn  has  failed.  Sorghum  is 
grown  chiefly  in  the  Ozark  Center.  Texas  County  led  the  state,  report- 
ing, in  1909,  43,510  gallons  of  syrup.     Other  important  producers  are 


iqS       geography  of   the  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Dallas,  Miller,  Polk,  Moniteau,  and  Cape  Girardeau  counties.  The 
cane  grows  well  on  rather  poor  land,  gives  high  returns  per  acre,  and  in 
the  more  remote  sections  sorghum  syrup  still  serves  as  the  common 
household  sweetening. 

Tobacco  growing  is  nearly  extinct.  Most  of  that  produced  at  present 
is  for  home  consumption.  Cooper  alone  of  the  Ozark  counties  yielded 
more  than  50,000  pounds  in  1909.  Cotton  is  grown  in  the  southern 
counties,  principally  on  bottom  land.  The  cotton-growing  counties 
lie  at  the  northern  limit  of  production,  in  the  same  latitude  as  the  south- 
eastern lowlands  of  Missouri,  in  which  cotton  is  one  of  the  chief  crops. 
In  1909  Ozark  County  produced  1,066  bales;  Taney,  861;  Oregon,  744; 
Ripley,  617;  and  Howell,  183.  Cotton  growing,  however,  receives  far 
less  attention  on  these  bottom  lands  than  it  does  in  the  southeastern 
lowlands,  partly  because  the  Ozark  valleys  are  more  subject  to  early 
and  late  frosts,  due  to  the  inflow  of  cold  air  from  the  surrounding 
hills,  and  partly  because  the  Ozark  districts  contain  almost  no  negro 
population. 

ANIMAL  INDUSTRIES 

Over  large  areas  stock  raising  is  the  dominant  occupation.  In  the 
Central  Plateau  and  in  a  large  part  of  the  hill  sections  the  value  of  animal 
products  commonly  exceeds  the  value  of  all  crops.  In  the  border  regions, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  reverse  is  true.  Comparative  figures  for  selected 
counties  are  given  in  the  table  (p.  199).  If  figures  were  available  on  the 
value  of  field  crops  marketed  as  such,  they  would  establish  the  fact  that 
animal  products  are  the  leading  output  of  Ozark  farms  in  all  sections  with 
the  exception  of  the  northeastern  and  eastern  counties  and  a  part  of  the 
Springfield  region.  The  greatest  relative  importance  of  animal  industry 
is  in  the  interior.  This  is  due  to  (i)  poor  transportation  conditions, 
which  constitute  one  of  the  most  serious  economic  problems  of  the  region, 
(2)  the  combination  of  bottom  lands  which  grow  corn  and  hay,  and  of 
upland  pastures,  (3)  the  excellent  springs,  (4)  small  amount  of  labor 
required  under  primitive  conditions  in  vogue,  and  (5)  the  inherited  inter- 
est in  this  occupation.  Plate  XVII  a  shows  a  seeded  pasture  in  the 
interior  of  the  Ozarks  which  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  more  common 
wild  pastures.  The  stock  farmer,  alone  of  the  occupants  of  the  Ozark 
Center,  is  not  seriously  handicapped  by  isolation.  A  good  stock  farm, 
no  matter  how  far  it  is  from  a  railroad,  may  command  a  hundred  dollars 
per  acre  for  its  bottom  land.  There  are  silos  in  valleys  more  than  twenty- 
five  miles  distant  from  the  nearest  railroad.     Many  of  these  farms  sell 


FARMING  CONDITIONS 


199 


nothing  but  animal  products,  and  are  improving  year  by  year  in  fertility 
and  equipment. 

Fig.  38  shows  the  number  of  cattle  kept  per  square  mile  in  the  Ozark. 
Highland  and  in  the  adjacent  counties.  The  corn-  and  hay-growing 
counties  of  the  west  and  northwest  are  the  largest  producers  and  yield 
also  the  best  grade  of  stock.  In  these  sections  the  animals  are  fattened 
for  market  and  receive  in  general  the  same  treatment  as  in  the  corn 
belt  of  Iowa  and  Illinois.  Next  in  importance  is  the  Central  Plateau, 
where    the    extensive  grasslands   are    the    chief   factor  in  production 

AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTION,  1909 


All  Animal  Products'           All  Crops 

Central  Plateau: 
Polk 

$2,490,000 

1 ,600,000 

1,420,000 

1,340,000 

970,000 

950,000 
850,000 
680,000 
680,000 
660,000 
630,000 

2,510,000 
1,520,000 

2,430,000 
1,790,000 

1,340,000 

$1,850,000 
1,270,000 

Howell 

A\'ebster 

1,220,000 

Wright 

1,070,000 
950,000 

910,000 
960,000 
590,000 
620,000 

Dallas 

Hill  sections: 

Camden 

Crawford 

Shannon 

Stone 

WajTie 

920,000 
750,000 

2,850,000 
2,560,000 

3,100,000 
2,930,000 

2,200,000 

Pulaski 

Springfield  Plain: 

Greene 

Lawrence 

Missouri  River  Border: 

Cooper 

Franklin 

Mississippi  River  Border: 
Cape  Girardeau 

(Plate  XVII  a).  The  low  rank  of  the  eastern  and  northern  border 
counties  is  due  in  part  to  the  good  grain  markets  which  they  possess, 
in  part  to  the  development  of  dairying  rather  than  of  meat  produc- 
tion, and  in  part  to  the  German  population,  which  in  this  region  is 
becoming  interested  only  slowly  in  stock  raising. 

In  spite  of  the  great  natural  advantages  the  dairy  industry  has  not 
been  developed  extensively  in  most  parts  of  the  Ozarks  (Fig.  39).  Jeffer- 
son County,  perhaps  the  poorest  county  of  the  Ozark  borders,  ranks 
first,  with  dairy  products  valued  at  $386,000  in  1909.  This  figure  has 
since  been  far  surpassed.  The  redemption  of  this  county  from  poverty 
has  been  accomplished  by  dairying.     The  nearby  St.  Louis  market  has 


I 


200       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

given  the  incentive  to  the  industry.  The  county  contains  a  great  deal 
of  hill  land,  which  furnishes  fair  pasturage.  It  also  has  sufficient  land 
suited  for  growing  corn  and  hay,  and  has  good  water.  To  the  west  of 
St.  Louis,  Franklin  County  is  beginning  to  develop  similarly.  The 
southwestern  counties  supply  Springfield  and  the  mining  districts  with 
dairy  products.  Excepting  these  sections  there  are  very  few  dairies  in 
the  Ozarks.     Physical  conditions  for  dairying  are  good  in  all  sections, 


[[nEIv3 


Fig.  38. — Number  of  cattle  per  square  mile 


as  shown  by  examples  of  individual  success,^  but  the  problem  of  market- 
ing and  the  lack  of  organization  retard  development.  The  difficulty 
of  transportation  has  as  its  effect  the  conversion  of  the  farm  surplus 
of  milk  into  butter.  If  butter  is  estimated  to  be  worth  on  the  average 
16  cents  per  pound  in  1909,  Douglas  County  sold  $53,000  worth  of  butter 
out  of  a  total  of  $56,000  in  dairy  products.  For  Ripley  County  the 
respective  figures  are  $40,000  and  $43,000;  for  Oregon,  $57,000  and 
$61,000,  and  so  on.  On  the  other  hand  regions  with  good  market  con- 
nections sell  chiefly  milk  and  cream.     The  butter  produced  in  Jefferson 


^Forty-sixth. Ann.  Rept.  of  the  State  Board  of  Agric,  pp.  403-5. 


FARMING  CONDITIONS 


20I 


County  was  worth  only  one-fourth  of  the  total  value  of  dairy  products 
and  that  in  Greene  County  about  one-half. 

Fig.  40  shows  the  number  of  hogs  kept  in  1909.  The  distribution  of 
hogs  corresponds  rather  closely  to  the  production  of  corn,  and  the 
industry  is  therefore  best  developed  in  the  Boonslick  region  of  the  north- 
west. The  counties  in  the  interior  which  make  the  best  success  of  hog 
raising  are  the  ones  possessing  rail  transportation.     Thus  the  main  line 


Fig.  39. — Dairy  products.     Each  dot  represents  $2,000 


of  the  Frisco  is  outlined  by  a  chain  of  counties  producing  more  hogs  than 
their  more  inaccessible  neighbors.  Hogs  cannot  transport  themselves 
so  well  as  cattle,  and  are  not  produced  so  e-xtensively  in  remote  sections. 
Although  the  country  is  well  adapted  to  the  production  of  sheep, 
this  industry  has  attained  no  great  importance.  In  the  Ozark  Center 
the  danger  from  dogs  and  the  fact  that  sheep  lose  themselves  in  the  forests 
are  serious  handicaps.  Laclede  County  led  in  1909  with  26,600.  In  this 
and  other  counties  there  are  also  numerous  herds  of  goats  (Plate  XVII  h). 
They  are  shipped  in  mostly  from  the  southwest^  are  turned  into  brushy 
pastures  during  summer,  and  are  then  sent  usually  to  market  at  St.  Louis. 


202        GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

As  the  goats  destroy  the  brush  and  sapHngs  the  land  is  afterward  used 
most  commonly  as  pasture  for  cattle  or  sheep.  The  introduction  of 
goats  therefore  is  followed  in  most  cases  by  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
other  live  stock. 

Draft  animals  in  the  border  region  are  of  medium  weight  and  fair 
quality.  In  the  Missouri  Valley  mule  breeding  continues  to  be  impor- 
tant. In  the  hill  regions  horses  and  mules  are  of  inferior  grade.  Because 
of  the  steep  slopes,  the  sharp  gravel,  and  the  small  amount  of  feed  they 


ra  A  R  gy 


iiTfi°i'l?i'-F 


noRC THr\N  too  (Til  7y-loQ 
0-1.0 


?TMT|ao-t^o  C=f  ZO-30 

Fig.  40. — Number  of  hogs  per  square  mile 


receive,  there  has  been  evolved  a  light,  wiry,  and  sure-footed  strain  which 
is  well  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  poorer  farmers.  In  much  of  the  hill 
country  the  average  horse  or  mule  is  well  below  a  thousand  pounds  in 
weight.  On  the  Central  Plateau  some  attention  is  given  to  horse  breeding, 
largely  because  of  the  long  wagon  hauls  that  are  necessary  in  most  parts 
to  reach  shipping-points,  in  part  because  the  smooth  prairies  make 
the  employment  of  good  draft  animals  profitable.  Plate  XVHI  a 
shows  a  horse  show  at  Licking,  a  small  village  on  one  of  the  most 
isolated  prairies. 


FARMING  CONDITIONS 


203 


Poultry  raising,  as  shown  in  Fig.  41,  is  dependent  not  so  much  on 
fertility  of  soil  as  upon  marketing  facilities.  In  this  region,  however, 
poultry  raising  for  market  is  not  profitable  unless  most  of  the  feed  is 
produced  on  the  place.  There  are  few  exclusive  poultry  farms.  Poultry 
in  the  Ozarks  is  a  by-product  of  general  farming  and  subsists  mostly  on 
what  otherwise  would  be  wasted  on  the  farm.  In  receipts  from  the  sale 
of  poultry  and  eggs  Jefferson  County  leads  the  state,  although  it  is  not 
a  large  county  and  is  poor  in  comparison  with  north  Missouri  counties. 


Fig.  41. — Value  of  poultry  and  eggs.    Each  dot  represents  $2,000 


Franklin  County  is  a  close  second.  The  money  received  in  Jefferson 
County  from  poultry  and  eggs  in  1909  was  more  than  that  from  its 
wheat  crop.  The  eastern  counties  of  the  Missouri  River  Border,  which 
are  less  fertile  than  the  western  ones  and  at  the  same  time  have  easy 
access  to  large  markets,  engage  largely  in  the  production  of  poultry 
and  eggs.  Where  the  cattle  and  hog  business  prospers,  farmers  do  not 
have  time  or  inclination  to  devote  themselves  to  the  raising  of  poultry. 
In  the  less  favored  counties,  however,  the  poultry  business  is  in  many 
cases  the  deciding  factor  which  makes  the  farm  show  a  profit  instead  of 


204       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

a  deficit.  Turkeys  are  most  numerous  in  the  hill  sections,  where  these 
birds,  which  are  efficient  foragers,  find  almost  their  entire  sustenance 
in  the  woods  from  spring  until  fall.  At  the  latter  season  they  are 
fattened  on  corn  and  then  shipped  or  driven  to  market  in  large  numbers. 

TRUCK  AND  FRUIT   FARMING 

The  growing  of  vegetables  for  market  is  not  pursued  extensively 
except  in  the  southwest.  The  largest  single  producer  in  1909  was  Greene 
County  with  an  output  worth  $210,000.  There  are  numerous  market 
gardens  also  in  the  neighboring  counties  of  Jasper,  Newton,  Barry, 
Webster,  and  Lawrence,  all  of  which  have  good  local  markets  in  the 
Joplin  mining  region  and  at  Springfield.  The  southeast  is  favored  also 
in  the  production  of  early  vegetables  for  northern  markets,  because  it 
has  an  early  spring,  a  warm  cherty  soil  which  drains  well  and  can  be 
worked  early,  and  good  rail  connections  with  the  north.  Many  vege- 
tables are  grown  in  this  section  as  filler  crops  between  rows  of  small 
fruits,  which  are  an  important  product  (see  below).  Canning  industries 
have  been  extablished  recently,  and  extend  the  demand  for  vegetables 
over  a  longer  period.  In  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis,  Jefferson  and  Franklin 
counties  have  added  truck  fal^ming  to  their  other  intensified  farming 
interests.  Jefferson  County  especially  is  favored  in  the  growing  of 
various  vegetables  by  its  large  areas  of  sandy  soil. 

Although  the  Ozarks  have  been  advertised  extensively  as  the  "land 
of  the  big  red  apple,"  they  take  second  place  to  the  great  loess  belt  of 
western  Missouri,  of  which  Cooper  County  is  the  eastern  extremity. 
In  four  adjoining  counties  of  the  Ozarks,  Greene,  Wright  (each  with 
210,000  bushels  in  1909),  Texas,  and  Webster,  the  most  numerous  apple 
orchards  are  to  be  found.  It  is  not  apparent  that  this  region  possesses 
advantages  over  other  sections  of  the  Ozarks  other  than  the  fact  that  an 
early  start  has  made  the  vicinity  of  Springfield  a  well-known  center  for 
apple  buyers  and  that  transportation  facilities  are  better  than  the  aver- 
age. Apples,  especially  winter  varieties,  do  well  on  all  the  clay  and  loam 
soils  of  the  highland  and  are  grown  as  a  rule  on  less  thin  and  stony 
soils  than  are  peaches.  Plate  XVIII  b  shows  a  typical  apple  orchard. 
They  are  located  usually  on  smooth  land,  and  labor-saving  machinery 
is  employed  largely  in  their  care. 

In  peach  growing  a  group  of  southeastern  counties  is  first  in  the  state 
and  constitutes  one  of  the  important  commercial  districts  of  the  country. 
The  following  yields  are  given  for  1909:  Oregon  County,  117,000  bushels; 
Howell,  78,000;  Texas,  68,000;  Bollinger,  60,000.     Both  soil  and  climate 


FARMING  CONDITIONS  205 

are  adapted  to  the  production  of  fruit  of  sweet  flavor  and  high  color, 
which  enters  the  markets  after  the  Georgia  peaches  are  gone  and  before 
the  Michigan  fruit  is  ripe.  The  trees  grow  mostly  on  Howell  soil,  which 
is  warm  and  well  drained  because  of  its  high  chert  content.  The  reflec- 
tion of  light  from  the  chert  fragments  probably  contributes  to  the  high 
color  of  the  peaches.  The  district  lies  far  enough  south  to  escape  most 
of  the  late  killing  frosts.  The  orchards  are  located  mostly  on  the  upland 
near  the  edge  of  a  valley,  thus  providing  air  drainage  which  protects 
them  from  unseasonable  frosts.  As  in  the  case  of  apples,  commercial 
orchards  are  not  located  on  rough  land  on  which  machinery  cannot  be 
employed  to  good  advantage.  Although  the  fruit  has  been  known  to  do 
well  in  this  section  for  a  long  time,  its  successful  production  on  a  com- 
mercial scale  has  had  to  wait  for  organization  of  the  growers.  The 
largest  growers'  association  has  shipping  stations  at  Pomona,  Koshko- 
nong,  Brandsville,  and  Thayer.  About  five  thousand  people  are  at  present 
employed  during  the  picking  season.  They  are  in  part  professionals 
following  the  crop  season  north,  but  largely  natives  from  the  surrounding 
hills  who  desert  their  poor  farms  temporarily  for  the  peach  orchards  to 
make  a  few  dollars  less  hard-won  than  by  growing  corn  on  their  thin 
lands.  For  a  time  there  is  great  activity;  every  one  is  busy  during  the 
day,  and  at  night  traveling  shows  reap  a  rich  harvest.  Thereafter  the 
region  relapses  into  quiet  until  the  next  season.'  Plate  XIX  a  shows  a 
commercial  orchard  at  picking  time. 

Recently  Missouri  strawberries  have  entered  the  metropolitan 
markets,  and  at  present  about  two  dozen  places,  centering  about  Neosho 
and  Monett,  are  engaged  in  growing  and  shipping  an  annual  crop  worth 
from  $500,000  to  $1,000,000.  The  cherty  soil  so  employed  warms  up 
quickly  and  maintains  a  favorable  moisture  condition.  Most  of  the 
strawberry  land  is  smooth  and  easily  cultivated.  The  season  lasts  about 
a  month,  from  the  middle  of  May  to  the  middle  of  June,  and  bridges  in 
part  the  interval  between  the  southern  berries  and  those  from  Michigan. 
To  place  the  fruit  on  the  market  promptly,  the  railroads  operate  "straw- 
berry specials"  to  Kansas  City  and  Chicago. 

CONDITIONS   OF   RURAL    LIFE 

Conditions  of  life  in  the  Ozark  Border  are  in  sharp  contrast  to  those 
of  the  Ozark  Center.  The  border  farms  are  richer,  more  numerous, 
less  scattered,  and  in  closer  contact  with  the  outside  world  than  are  the 
farms  of  the  hill  and  plateau  sections. 

'  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  Missouri,  1912,  1913,  1914,  pp.  67-71. 


f 


I 


206       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Farm  improvements  are  generally  ample  and  in  good  condition  in  the 
border  regions.  Most  of  the  dwellings  are  two-story  frame  houses,  built 
on  the  conventional  plan  of  western  farm  dwellings.  In  the  German 
sections  they  are  built  largely  of  stone  or  brick.  The  prairies  of  the 
Central  Plateau  are  similar  to  the  borders  in  the  character  of  their  homes. 
Elsewhere  in  the  interior  one  finds  most  commonly  low  structures,  which, 
by  their  long,  built-in  porches,  show  the  architecture  of  the  old  South. 
Many  houses  still  are  built  of  logs  and  range  from  crude  one-room  cabins 
of  rough-hewn,  ill-fitted  logs  to  structures  built  of  carefully  squared  logs, 
joined  so  well  that  almost  no  "chinking"  is  required  (Plate  XX).  In 
contrast  to  the  factory-made  and  often  garish  home  furnishings  of  the 
border  farms,  the  isolated  farm  of  the  interior  valleys  is  still  fitted  largely 
with  homemade  articles.  Many  of  the  better-class  homes  resemble 
those  of  more  eastern  sections  of  several  generations  ago.  Hickory 
chairs  and  walnut  worm  bedsteads  are  in  common  use.  The  housewife 
still  knows  how  to  knit  rag  rugs  and  to  weave  coverlets  of  various 
designs.  Quilting  is  a  cherished  art  in  which  time-honored  patterns  are 
used  that  were  evolved  on  the  frontier,  or  were  brought  from  the  southern 
seaboard.  The  gun  still  hangs  over  the  fireplace,  ready  for  use,  and  in  a 
corner  the  spinning  wheel  may  be  seen  occasionally,  as  there  are  some  who 
still  card  their  own  wool  and  spin  it  into  thread  for  jeans. 

Barns  as  a  rule  are  not  large  in  any  part  of  the  highland,  except  in  the 
northwestern  counties.  On  the  poor  farms  of  the  hill  regions  they  are 
wretched  sheds.  Here  the  little  hay  that  is  cut  is  left  in  the  cock,  corn 
remains  in  the  field  or  is  put  into  log  cribs,  stock  seeks  its  own  shelter, 
and  small  grains  are  not  produced.  A  barn  therefore  is  an  improvement 
of  slight  value  to  the  hill  farmer.  The  spring  house  (Plate  XIX  b)  is 
still  the  favorite  place  for  keeping  perishable  food.  Most  cove  farmers 
keep  their  butter  and  milk  in  the  cavernous  openings  from  which  springs 
issue.  Rail  fences  are  almost  universal,  except  in  the  Springfield  Plain 
and  on  the  prairies.  Plates  XXI  and  XXII  a  show  contrasted  types  of 
farms  on  the  prairie  and  in  the  hills. 

As  external  circumstances  change  slowly  in  the  central  region,  so 
thought  and  custom  have  become  crystallized  through  isolation.  There 
are  no  political  upheavals  in  the  Ozark  Center;  its  voters  can  be  relied 
on  to  vote  "regular"  and  to  oppose  changes  in  the  existing  order.  The 
church  is  the  one  great  social  institution  of  the  hill  regions,  and  preaching 
and  prayer  meeting  are  attended  regularly  by  nearly  all.  Entertain- 
ments are  of  the  old-fashioned  sort,  such  as  spelling  matches,  quilting 
bees,  and  dancing  to  the  fiddle.     The  classic  of  the  frontier,  "  the  Hoosier 


FARMING  CONDITIONS  207 

schoolmaster,"  could  still  be  matched  in  parts  of  the  Ozarks  today.  The 
speech  of  the  people  is  full  of  homespun  epigrams  and  contains  a  number 
of  obsolete  expressions  which  are  probably  imported  from  the  hills  of 
Tennessee.  In  short,  whereas  the  people  of  the  Ozark  borders  live  much 
in  the  fashion  of  the  surrounding  prairie  states,  the  interior  is  still  in 
many  respects  a  remnant  of  the  frontier  and  has  preserved  conditions  of 
life  which  in  most  other  regions  belonged  to  past  generations.  In  this 
respect  it  is  similar  to  the  hills  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  but  as  the 
isolation  of  the  Ozarks  has  been  less  effective  the  degree  of  retardation 
is  less.  The  backward  condition  of  the  interior  regions  is  heightened  by 
the  fact  that  the  settlers  came  originally  from  eastern  Tennessee  or 
Kentucky,  and  were  in  a  backward  state  at  the  time  of  their  immigration 
to  ^lissouri. 

In  the  hill  sections  there  is  a  sharp  difference  between  the  farmer 
of  the  larger  valley  and  the  farmer  of  the  hillside  or  small  cove.  The 
former  usually  enjoys  a  reasonable  prosperity,  the  latter  too  com- 
monl\-  lives  in  abject  poverty.  The  valley  people  are  on  the  whole 
well  built,  alert,  frank,  and  intelligent.  The  hill  farmers  are  largely  of 
the  shambling,  furtive,  and  shiftless  type  that  is  associated  popularly 
with  "hill  billies."  They  go  barefooted  most  of  the  year,  old  and  young 
of  both  se.xes  smoke  and  dip  snuff,  and  they  marry  when  hardly  out  of 
childhood.  Most  of  the  ancestors  of  both  groups  came  from  the  same 
regions  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky.  In  part  the  present  hill  farmers  are 
descended  from  the  poorer  immigrants  who  located  on  the  less  desirable 
land.  In  numerous  instances,  however,  valley  farmers  and  hill  farmers 
are  from  the  same  stock  and  have  become  differentiated  since  settling 
in  Missouri  by  reason  of  a  strongly  contrasted  environment. 

Where  bottom  lands  and  prairies  lie  in  close  proximity,  they  afford 
interesting  economic  and  social  contrasts.  The  bottom  lands  are  almost 
invariably  much  richer  than  the  adjacent  prairies.  The  prairie  farms, 
however,  make  a  surer  crop  because  they  are  never  flooded.  They  are 
also  cultivated  more  easily  because  of  the  more  compact  form  and  level 
surface  of  their  fields  and  usually  are  more  healthful.  For  these  reasons 
the  prairie  farms  in  many  sections  are  better  cared  for  than  the  bottom 
farms  and  bring  a  higher  price,  considering  their  fertility.  An  additional 
factor,  and  probably  the  most  important  one  which  makes  the  prairie 
land  more  in  demand,  is  its  accessibility.  Most  bottoms  are  much  less 
than  half  a  mile  wide,  and  are  flanked  on  both  sides  by  a  belt  of  rough, 
almost  uninhabited,  country,  which  most  likely  is  several  miles  in  width. 
A  neighborhood  in  the  bottoms  is  therefore  linear,  the  houses  being  strung 


2o8       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

along  the  valley  at  distances  usually  in  excess  of  half  a  mile.  On  the 
prairie,  however,  roads  lead  in  all  directions  and  there  are  neighbors  all 
around  (Plate  XXI).  Moreover,  the  main  roads  are  located  almost 
invariably  upon  the  upland,  so  that  the  prairie  farmer  may  live  in  touch 
with  the  outer  world,  whereas  the  valleys  are  served  by  side  roads, 
traveled  ordinarily  only  by  a  few  people  of  the  vicinity.  The  one  region 
therefore  enjoys  a  fair  amount  of  community  life,  whereas  the  other 
may  be  extremely  isolated.  This  isolation  has  a  somewhat  discouraging 
effect  on  the  husbandry  of  the  valley  farmer,  as  he  lacks  the  stimulus 
derived  from  the  competition  and  comment  of  numerous  neighbors  and 
from  an  exchange  of  opinions.  The  most  serious  effect  of  isolation, 
however,  is  upon  the  farmer's  family,  which  commonly  tires  of  the  lonely 
life.  Because  of  the  wishes  of  his  family  the  valley  farmer  in  many 
instances  disposes  of  his  place  after  a  time  and  removes  to  a  section  where 
there  are  more  social  relations. 

School  conditions  throw  light  on  the  contrasted  social  conditions  of 
the  Ozark  Center  and  Border.  In  six  counties  in  Missouri  the  average 
attendance  per  pupil  enrolled  was  less  than  75  days  for  the  school  year 
1 91 2-13.  These  counties  and  the  average  number  of  days  in  attendance 
are:  Douglas,  69;  Reynolds,  69.5;  Camden,  70.9;  Bollinger,  71.2; 
Stone,  73;  Carter,  74 — all  of  the  Ozark  Center,  In  contrast  to  these 
conditions  an  agricultural  county  of  north  Missouri,  Holt,  showed  a 
record  of  123  .9  days  and  some  of  the  Ozark  Border  counties  the  follow- 
ing: Franklin,  109.4;  Jefferson,  107. i;  Barry,  107.5.  None  of  these 
has  any  large  part  of  its  pupils  in  city  school  districts.  Including 
Butler  County  there  are  eighteen  school  districts  in  the  Ozarks,  each  of 
which  has  a  total  assessed  valuation  of  less  than  $10,000.  In  Ozark, 
Pulaski,  Phelps,  Texas,  and  Wayne  counties  not  a  single  one-room  district 
(this  includes  all  rural  schools  as  well  as  the  smaller  villages)  is  assessed 
as  high  as  $50,000.  In  many  of  these  poorer  schools  the  teacher  has 
been  employed  at  $25  a  month,  and  in  at  least  one  case  at  $20.* 

'  Sixty-fourth  Missotiri  Report  of  Public  Schools. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING 

IMPORTANCE   OF   MINING   INDUSTRY 

To  Missouri's  normal  mineral  output  of  $50,000,000  the  Ozark 
Highland  contributes  more  than  three-fifths.  The  value  of  all  minerals 
produced  in  the  Ozarks  is  nearly  half  as  great  as  that  of  all  agricultural 
crops.  Half  of  the  mineral  values  of  the  state  consist  of  lead  and  zinc, 
both  of  which  are  mined  exclusively  in  the  Ozarks.  In  addition  the 
region  yields  clay,  limestone,  granite,  baryte,  iron  ore,  tripoli,  copper, 
silver,  and  coal.  More  than  half  the  total  mineral  output  of  the  high- 
land is  from  the  southwestern  district,  comprising  Jasper,  Newton,  and 
Lawrence  counties,  and  most  of  the  remainder  from  the  southeastern 
counties,  St.  Francois,  Washington,  and  Madison.  The  places  of  prin- 
cipal production  of  the  various  minerals  are  shown  in  Fig.  42. 

Mining  in  general  probably  does  not  benefit  the  region  to  the  extent 
which  similar  earnings  along  many  other  lines  do,  because  (i)  the  net 
profits  of  mining  are  largely  taken  out  of  the  region,  and  (2)  the  wage- 
earners  themselves  do  little  to  build  up  the  community.  Ordinarily 
they  do  not  become  permanent  citizens  but  drift  away  after  a  time,  and 
their  savings  go  with  them.  Mining  has  aided  development  principally 
in  the  following  ways:  (i)  The  taxes  enable  the  carrying  out  of  extensive 
public  works,  especially  the  construction  of  good  roads.  Jasper  and  St, 
Francois  counties  have  some  of  the  best  roads  in  the  state  built  by  these 
means.  (2)  The  mining  towns  furnish  e.xcellent  markets  for  the  sur- 
rounding agricultural  sections.  (3)  The  miners  spend  freely  and  thus 
create  good  business  for  the  merchants.  (4)  In  so  far  as  royalties  are 
paid  to  owners  of  land,  the  stable  indigenous  population  shares  in  the 
profits.  (5)  The  mineral  deposits  attract  railroads,  which  in  turn  aid 
the  general  development  of  the  mining  districts  and  of  the  territory 
lying  between  the  mines  and  the  markets. 

SOUTHWESTERN   MINING   REGION 

The  southwestern  region  still  leads  the  country  in  normal  times  in  the 
production  of  zinc.  Its  output  of  raw  ore  in  191 2  was  worth  $13,000,000. 
In  addition  there  was  produced  about  82,100,000  worth  of  lead  ore, 
mainly  as  a  by-product.     Of  the  total,  almost  95  per  cent  came  from 

209 


2IO       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Jasper  County.^  Values  of  zinc  concentrates  in  1915  were  $18,585,454; 
of  lead,  $1,805,782.  The  total  ore  values  for  the  district  in  1917  were 
placed  at  $25,000,000.^  The  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1914  created  an 
enormous  demand  for  zinc.  Old  mills  were  reopened,  low-grade  pro- 
ducers from  the  "sheet  ground"  areas  were  greatly  stimulated,  tailings 
were  re-worked,  improved  methods  of  recovery  were  introduced,  and, 
above  all  else,  the  district  experienced  an  enormous  expansion  of  area 
by  the  opening  of  new  mines.  This  expansion  was  almost  entirely  west- 
ward and  northward  and  lay,  therefore,  for  the  most  part  beyond  the 


te  Lead 
A    Iron 

^  Ulme  Kan£ 


Fig.  42. — Principal  areas  of  mineral  production 


boundaries  of  the  state.  -Joplin,  the  metropolis  of  the  district,  has 
thereby  been  placed  in  a  distinctly  marginal  position  to  the  zinc  and  lead 
region.  Prices  in  1916  rose  three  to  five  times  the  normal  ore  values, 
and  development  assumed  in  places  a  frenzied  character.  In  191 7  a 
sharp  recession  in  spelter  prices  took  place  without  a  reduction  in  the 
high  costs  of  mining,  and  the  older  mining  districts  in  Missouri  began  to 
suffer  heavily. 

Joplin,  with  a  population  of  32,073  in  1910,  is  the  metropolis  of  the 
zinc  region.     Probably  100,000  people  live  within  a  ten-mile  radius  of  this 

'  Twenty-sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Bur.  Mines,  State  of  Missouri. 
'  Eng.  and  Min.  Jour,  (1918),  p.  70. 


MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING  2  1 1 

place.  Other  cities  built  up  principally  through  mining  development 
are  Webb  City  (11,817),  Carthage  (9,483),  Carterville  (4,549),  Oronogo 
(1,912),  Carl  Junction  (1,115),  Purcell  (997),  and  Duenweg  in  Jasper 
County;  Aurora  (4,149)  in  Lawrence  County;  and  Granby  (2,336)  in 
Newton  County.  The  number  of  cities  is  not  equaled  by  any  other  equal 
area  in  the  state.  The  concentration  of  population  has  resulted  in  a  net 
of  interurban  electric  lines.  Mining  has  made  Jopliri  one  of  the  most 
important  railroad  centers  of  the  state,  and  thereby  has  attracted  whole- 
sale merchants,  selling  to  a  large  territory  in  the  southwest,  as  well  as 
numerous  manufacturers.  Joplin  itself  has  for  some  time  been  a  less 
important  producer  than  some  other  sections,  but  it  has  retained  com- 
mercial control  of  the  district,  as  the  earliest  great  center.  Mining 
centers  are  numerous  and  for  the  most  part  small,  as  the  ore  is  widely 
distributed  and  not  suited  to  the  erection  of  a  few  large  mining  estab- 
lishments. Instead,  there  is  a  host  of  small  producers,  resulting  in  an 
extraordinarily  large  number  of  small  mining  centers.  This  situation 
facilitates  continued  control  of  the  business  of  the  district  by  Joplin, 
which  is  becoming  more  and  more  a  commercial  city  rather  than  a  mining 
town.  The  manufactures  are  in  large  part  connected  with  the  mining 
industry,  important  products  being  mining  machinery,  dynamite,  and 
white  lead.  Smelters  using  zinc  ore  from  this  region  are  located  at 
Nevada  and  Rich  Hill  in  Missouri,  and  at  Pittsburg,  Weir  City,  lola, 
Gas  City,  La  Harpe,  and  other  places  in  Kansas.  Spelter  is  also  shipped 
to  Illinois.  Since  twice  as  much  coal  as  ore  is  required  in  smelting, 
the  ore  for  the  most  part  is  shipped  to  places  at  which  there  is  cheap 
fuel.  Zinc  smelters  have  developed  therefore  in  the  oil  and  gas  fields  of 
Kansas  and  at  coal-mining  centers  in  Missouri  and  Illinois. 

Because  of  the  age  of  the  district  and  its  uninterrupted  profitable 
production,  the  cities  have  an  air  of  stability  not  common  to  mining 
sections.  For  the  same  reasons  the  mining  population  is  mostly  Ameri- 
can, having  been  resident  in  the  region  in  many  cases  for  several  genera- 
tions. 

SOUTHEASTERN   MINING   REGION 

In  southeast  Missouri  St.  Francois  County  dominates  the  mining 
industry  even  to  a  larger  extent  than  Jasper  County  does  in  the  south- 
west. The  production  of  Madison  County,  which  ranks  second,  is 
less  than  2  per  cent  of  the  total  for  this  region.  Production  by  modern 
methods  dates  from  about  1865,  when  systematic  underground  mining 
of  disseminated  lead  deposits  was  begun  at  Bonne  Terre.     In  1888  shafts 


212       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

were  sunk  at  Doe  Run  and  resulted  in  a  strong  boom.  In  1890  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  and  Bonne  Terre  Railroad  was  opened  and  a  smelter  was 
built  at  its  terminus  on  the  river  at  Herculaneum.  The  ore  was  trans- 
ported to  this  point,  where  cheap  coal  is  available.  The  opening  up  of 
this  railroad  solved  the  vexing  fuel  problem  and  inaugurated  large-scale 
development.  Doe  Run  experienced  a  short  period  of  prosperity,  the 
workings  being  practically  abandoned  in  1896.  The  town  is  at  present 
largely  in  ruins.  The  greatest  development  began  in  1892,  when  the 
first  shaft  was  sunk  in  the  Flat  River  field;  about  at  the  same  time  opera- 
tions commenced  at  Desloge.^  In  1902  the  Federal  Lead  Company 
entered  the  field,  sinking  shafts  at  Flat  River,  Elvins,  and  Central. 
The  St.  Francois  district  yielded  from  1869  to  1906  lead  concentrates 
valued  at  $59,870,000.^  From  1907  to  191 5  their  value  amounted  to 
$85,207,971,  probably  in  excess  of  all  production  prior  to  1907. ^  In 
191 5  alone  the  concentrates  were  valued  at  approximately  $12,000,000. 
In  191 2  mining  companies  controlled  42,000  acres  of  land  in  St.  Francois 
County  which  contain  ample  reserves  for  a  number  of  years. ^  As  in  the 
Joplin  district,  both  production  and  development  work  were  enormously 
stimulated  by  the  Great  War.  There  exist  possibilities  of  extension  of 
the  area  producing  lead  from  disseminated  ore,  especially  into  Washing- 
ton County,  at  the  scene  of  the  original  lead  mining  in  Missouri. 

The  ore  bodies  are  more  deep-seated  than  in  the  southwestern 
region,  and  the  quantity  available  in  the  same  area  of  mining  operations 
is  as  a  rule  greater.  Mining  equipment  is  therefore  on  a  larger  scale  and 
of  a  more  permanent  character  than  in  the  Joplin  region.  A  few  large 
companies  dominate  the  field  completely,  have  built  large  power  plants 
and  mills,  and  even,  in  considerable  part,  towns  in  which  the  miners  live. 
In  this  section  is  the  largest  lead-mining  corporation  on  the  continent, 
the  St.  Joseph  Lead  Company,  which  produced  in  191 7  ore  approximating 
$18,000,000  in  value  and  paid  nearly  $5,000,000  in  dividends  in  that  year. 

The  rapid  mining  development  has  resulted  in  a  phenomenal  increase 
of  population  in  St.  Francois  County,  which  is  equaled  by  no  other  Ozark 
county  during  the  same  period.  In  1880  the  county  had  13,822  people; 
in  1890,  17,347;  in  1900,  24,051;  in  1910,  35,738.  The  increase  since 
then  has  been  even  more  rapid.  In  1880  the  population  was  approxi- 
mately the  same  as  that  of  Washington  County;  in  1910  it  was  nearly 

'  Buckley,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  IX,  164,  196. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  3. 

'  U.S.  Geol.  Surv.,  Mineral  Resources  (1915),  I. 

4  Twenty-sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Bur.  Mines,  State  of  Missouri. 


MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING  213 

three  times  as  large.  The  mines  are  so  distributed  that  no  one  center 
overshadows  the  rest  in  size  and  importance.  Flat  River,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  5,112  in  1910,  is  at  present  the  center  of  greatest  activity,  and 
is  a  typical,  hastily  built  mining  town.  Bonne  Terre  (4,500)  is  the  oldest 
mining  town  in  a  held  which  still  is  producing  satisfactorily.  The  town 
has  the  appearance  of  prosperity  and  stability.  Elvins  (2,071)  and 
Desloge  (2,200)  are  mushroom  places.  In  all,  there  are  at  present  at 
least  25,000  people  dependent  on  the  mines  of  the  district.  The  workers 
are  largely  foreigners  from  the  east  of  Europe.  Mining  has  aided  the 
growth  of  the  old  city  of  Farmington  and  has  contributed  greatly  to  its 
wealth.  Because  of  its  established  residential  character  it  has  been  the 
home  of  many  of  the  men  connected  with  the  mine's  in  superior  capacities. 
Some  of  its  inhabitants  have  been  made  prosperous  by  the  sale  or  lease 
of  land  to  the  mining  companies.  As  a  result  the  city  has  an  air  of 
prosperity  and  refinement  rare  in  places  of  its  size. 

QUARRIES   AND   ASSOCIATED   INDUSTRIES 

Next  to  the  lead  and  zinc  mines,  quarries  are  the  leading  producers 
of  mineral  wealth.  The  quarries  that  ship  out  their  product  fall  into  two 
groups:  (i)  those  possessing  competitive  water  rates,  and  (2)  those 
producing  a  stone  of  such  quality  that  it  can  be  shipped  considerable 
distances  by  rail.  To  the  latter  class  belong  the  Carthage  quarries  and 
those  of  the  granite  region.  The  Carthage  limestone  is  the  best-known 
and  most  successfully  developed  building  stone  of  the  state.  It  is  much 
stronger  than  the  Bedford  stone,  is  hardly  surpassed  by  any  limestone  in 
uniformity  of  color,'  dresses  well,  and  does  not'discolor  readily.  It  is 
quarried  by  improved  methods  and  has  a  stable  output,  75,000  tons  hav- 
ing been  shipped  in  191 2.  The  stone  is  shipped  not  only  throughout 
Missouri  but  to  regions  in  the  Southwest  as  well  which  are  deficient 
in  structural  stone.  The  stone  is  used  for  all  exterior  work  in  the  new 
state  capitol.  The  extensive  use  in  Carthage  has  made  that  city  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  in  the  state.  Ste.  Genevieve  has  the  largest  quarry 
in  the  state.  Limestone  is  produced  here  by  the  government  for  riprap 
to  protect  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Granite  quarrying  commenced 
at  Graniteville  in  1869^  and  a  few  years  later  at  Syenite  and  Knob  Lick. 
The  industry  flourished  until  very  recently,  Knob  Lick  alone  shipping 
out  a  thousand  carloads  annually  for  fifteen  years. ^    The  decadence  of 

'  Buckley  and  Buehler,  Missouri  Bur.  Geol.  and  Mines,  Ser.  2,  II,  123. 

'  Buckley  and  Buehler,  op.  cil.,  p.  62. 

^  Winslow,  Missouri  Gcol.  Surv.,  Sheet  Kept.  No.  4  (1896),  p.  112. 


\i 


214       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

the  industry  was  due  in  the  first  place  to  the  decrease  in  the  demand  for 
paving  blocks  ;^  secondly,  to  the  working  out  of  the  bodies  which  were 
easily  accessible  and  required  little  machinery ;  and  thirdly,  to  a  lack  of 
initiative  and  to  poor  management.  At  present  the  quarries  are  at 
work  only  when  a  contract  for  stone  comes  in,  an  event  which  seems  to 
occur  more  and  more  rarely.  The  quarry  towns  of  the  granite  region 
are  all  decadent,  the  remaining  population  being  obliged  to  eke  out  an 
existence  by  various  occupations. 

At  Crystal  City  and  Festus  the  St.  Peter  sandstone  outcrops  near 
the  Mississippi  River.  Sand  is  therefore  shipped  out  cheaply.  In 
1912,  108,000  tons  of  sand  are  reported  to  have  been  sent  out  by  rail.^ 
Coal  is  also  shipped  in'  at  low  cost  from  the  nearby  Illinois  fields  and  is 
used  to  operate  a  large  local  glass  industry.  Sand  is  quarried  also  at 
Pacific  from  the  same  formation. 

Lime  is  burned  at  many  different  places,  most  notably  at  Springfield, 
Ash  Grove,  and  Pierce  City  on  the  west,  and  at  Kimmswick,  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve, and  Cape  Girardeau  on  the  east.^  In  the  border  regions  nearly 
pure  limestones  are  available  in  most  localities.  The  location  of  lime- 
kilns is  determined  therefore  primarily  by  shipping  facilities.  Cape 
Girardeau  has  a  cement  mill,  which  utilizes  the  local  limestone  and  clay, 
and  ships  in  coal  at  competitive  water  rates. 

MINOR  MINERAL  INDUSTRIES 

Only  one  iron  smelter  remains  in  operation.-*  This  is  the  furnace  at 
Sligo,  which  produces  charcoal  iron.  It  is  able  to  continue  in  business 
because  there  is  demand  for  this  particular  kind  of  iron  at  a  good  price, 
because  charcoal  is  produced  at  low  cost  from  the  timber  of  the  flint  hills, 
and  because  labor  is  cheap.  The  ore  comes  chiefly  from  Crawford 
County,  from  small  open  pit  mines  of  the  filled  sink  type.  The  demand 
for  ore  and  for  timber  has  resulted  in  the  construction  of  a  number  of 
spurs  from  the  Salem  branch  of  the  Frisco  Railroad. 

The  production  of  tripoli  began  in  1888  with  the  manufacture  of 
scouring  bricks  and  of  tripoli  powder.  There '  are  works  at  Seneca, 
Racine,  and  Neosho.  The  production  of  tripoli  flour  has  increased 
from  200  tons  in  the  first  year  to  about  5,000  tons  at  present.  In  addi- 
tion, filters  of  all  sizes  are  made.     The  total  output  in  191 2  was  worth  in 

'  Winslow,  Missouri  Geol.  Sitrv.,  Sheet  Rept.  No.  4  (i8g6),  p.  112. 

^  Missouri,  igi2,  igi 2,  1914:  Jefferson  County.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  2g. 

^  Recently  a  plant  has  been  built  at  Midco,  Carter  County,  to  produce  wood 
distillate  and  charcoal  iron. 


MhYhXG  AND  MANUFACTURING  215 

excess  of  eighty  thousand  dollars  and  supplied  most  of  the  demands  of 
the  country.' 

Banks  of  fire  clay  are  worked  in  many  counties,  usually  intermittently 
and  on  a  small  scale.  Their  small  size  makes  the  use  of  machinery 
generally  unprofitable,  and  they  are  worked  as  a  rule  by  pick  and  shovel, 
commonly  by  farmers  during  the  winter  months.  Baryte,  or  tiff,  is 
produced  similarly.  Four-fifths  of  the  total  annual  production  of  Mis- 
souri comes  from  Washington  County  and  is  valued  at  nearly  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars.^ 

These  minor  minerals,  produced  principally  by  the  farming  popula- 
tion, are  a  mixed  blessing  to  the  region.  They  bring  to  poor  sections  a 
certain  amount  of  money.  They  also  divert  attention  from  farming. 
The  hill  farmers  especially  are  glad  for  a  chance  to  earn  a  few  dollars  in 
cash.  They  are  farmers  by  necessity  and  not  by  choice,  and  gladly 
take  to  digging  mineral  or  to  hauling  it  to  market.  They  become  only 
too  willing  to  turn  to  such  jobs  not  only  in  winter  but  at  other  seasons. 
It  is  only  as  they  realize  that  their  salvation  lies  in  the  land,  not  under  it, 
that  the  consistent  development  of  the  poorer  regions  is  possible. 

WATER-POWER  DEVELOPMENT 

In  the  interior  of  the  region  the  water  wheel  still  is  to  be  seen 
(Plate  XXII  h).  Timber  is  sawed,  flour  and  meal  are  ground,  and  wool 
is  carded  in  the  same  fashion  as  when  the  region  was  first  settled.  The 
old  mills  are  fast  disappearing,  however,  and  in  their  stead  have  come  the 
gasoline  and  portable  steam  engines  to  furnish  the  small  power  needed 
for  most  rural  industries.  Hydroelectric  power  has  been  developed  at 
a  few  places  only,  in  spite  of  the  excellent  possibilities.  The  one  large 
power  plant  of  the  Ozarks  of  Missouri  is  at  Powers! te,  Taney  County, 
where  a  dam  53  feet  high  has  been  built  across  the  White  River,  and  forms 
a  lake  about  23  miles  long.  The  plant  in  September,  1914,  had  a  capacity 
of  17,000  horse-power,  and  expected  to  develop  28,000.^  Small  plants  for 
lighting  and  power  are  in  successful  operation  at  Houston,  Ava,  Ozark, 
Alley,  and  Neosho.  Water  power,  if  utilized  properly,  would  be  suffi- 
cient to  make  good  the  deficiency  of  coal  and  to  serve  as  the  basis  of 
well  distributed  and  varied  manufacturing  interests,  not  only  within 
the  Ozarks,  but  in  the  larger  cities  adjacent  to  the  region. 

'  Missouri,  1912,  igij,  JQ14,  pp.  52-54;   U.S.  Gcol.  Surv.  Bull.,  pp.  429-35. 

'Missouri,  1912,  191 3,  1914,  p.  51. 

i  Stevens,  Missouri,  ttie  Center  Stale,  I,  116. 


2i6       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 
MANUFACTTJRES   NOT   DEPENDENT   ON   MINING 

Manufactures  other  than  those  connected  with  mining  are  few,  for 
the  most  part  small,  and  scattered.  Even  in  the  larger  cities  manu- 
factures are  of  secondary  importance.  This  is  due,  not  to  lack  of  raw 
materials  or  of  power,  but  to  the  stage  of  development  of  the  region. 
Flour  milling  and  woodworking  are  most  extensive.  These  are  depend- 
ent almost  solely  upon  advantageously  located,  cheap  raw  materials.  A 
second,  smaller  group  is  a  response  primarily  to  transportation  facilities 
and  labor  supply.  Here  belong  most  of  the  industries  in  the  Missouri 
River  towns  as  well  as  some  of  those  located  at  the  larger  railroad  centers, 
such  as  Springfield  and  Joplin. 

The  table  below  shows  the  value  of  manufactures  and  number  of 
people  employed  in  cities  of  more  than  10,000  in  1909.  The  rank  of 
Jefferson  City  is  due  largely  to  the  convict  labor  employed  at  the  peni- 
tentiary, secondarily  to  the  boot  and  shoe  industry.  Because  of  low 
taxes  and  rentals,  cheap  labor,  and  competitive  freight  rates  the  shoe 
industry  has  extended  from  St.  Louis  to  Missouri  River  towns,  such  as 


Jefferson  City. 
Springfield. . . . 

Joplin 

Webb  City.  .  . 


Value  of  Product 


$5, 446 ,000 

5,382,000 

4,136,000 

777,000 


No.  of  People  Employed 


1,572 

2,473 

1,089 

212 


Jefferson  City,  Hermann,  and  Washington.  In  Springfield,  Webb  City, 
and  Carthage  the  milling  of  flour  is  first  in  importance.  These  cities  are 
in  an  important  wheat-growing  region  and  have  been  manufacturing 
flour  for  many  years.  They  are  so  situated  also  that  they  can  secure 
hard  wheat  cheaply  from  the  West.  Springfield  has  developed  a  variety 
of  manufactures  to  supply  the  demands  of  the  large  agricultural  section 
for  which  it  serves  as  trading  center.  These  are  most  notably  wagons, 
furniture,  saddles,  and  stoves.  The  making  of  saddles  and  of  wagons  are 
among  the  oldest  industries,  and  apparently  originated  when  Springfield 
was  an  outfitting  point  for  travelers  and  emigrants  setting  out  for  the 
Southwest.  Springfield  also  has  a  large  number  of  men  employed  in  the 
railroad  car  shops.  In  Joplin  lead  smelting  has  remained  the  leading 
industry.  The  small  amount  of  fuel  required  has  enabled  the  manufac- 
ture of  lead  at  Joplin,  whereas  the  zinc  ore,  because  of  its  large  require- 
ments of  fuel,  is  mostly  shipped  away  to  be  smelted.     Washington  is 


MINING  AND  MANUFACTURING  217 

the  center  of  the  cob-pipe  industry,  producing  the  greater  part  of  the 
world's  output.  The  industry  is  due  to  personal  initiative,  aided  by  the 
adaptation  of  the  river  bottom  lands  to  the  growth  of  large  cobs.  At 
present  there  are  many  farmers  engaged  in  raising  a  special  variety  of 
corn  with  large  cobs.  Few  of  these  cities  have  any  highly  localized 
advantage  for  the  manufacture  of  a  particular  product  other  than  good 
transportation  and  labor.  Most  of  those  now  engaged  in  manufacture 
were  commercial  centers  first,  and  added  manufacturing  interests  later, 
in  a  minor  way. 


CHAPTER  XV 

TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMERCE 

WATERWAYS 

The  Mississippi  is  still  an  important  highway  for  the  eastern  border. 
Regular  service  is  maintained  between  St.  Louis  and  local  points,  usually 
as  far  as  Cape  Girardeau  or  Commerce.  Other  boats,  operating  between 
St.  Louis  and  the  lower  Mississippi  or  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  rivers, 
make  landings  at  the  more  important  local  ports.  An  important  part 
of  the  products  of  the  eastern  counties  is  still  shipped  by  water,  therefore. 
On  the  Missouri,  the  swift  current,  the  snags  and  sawyers,  and  the  rapidly 
local  bars  have  discouraged  navigation.  For  a  time  there  was  only 
local  service  of  very  uncertain  character.  Recently,  however,  barge 
service  between  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  has  been  resumed. 

The  Osage  and  Gasconade  rivers  are  handicapped  by  their  exceed- 
ingly devious  courses,  by  the  occurrence  of  large  shoals  caused  by  gravel 
bars,  and  by  small  volume  in  dry  seasons.  To  maintain  a  satisfactory 
channel  in  these  streams  would  require  an  excessive  expense.  The 
distance  to  which  boats  go  up  these  rivers  depends  upon  the  stage  of 
water.  On  the  Osage  River  boats  ply  at  irregular  intervals,  usually  not 
above  Tuscumbia,  although  Warsaw  is  head  of  na\dgation;  on  the 
Gasconade,  Arlington  is  nominally  at  the  head  of  navigation,  but  a  boat 
rarely  passes  above  Richfountain,  in  Osage  County.  Nevertheless,  these 
two  streams  are  of  considerable  commercial  significance  because  they 
furnish  an  outlet  to  a  country,  difficultly  traversed  by  land,  in  which 
railroad  facilities  are  largely  lacking.  To  the  "bottom"  farms  situated 
along  them  the  steamboat  is  the  usual  means  of  marketing  the  crops, 
which  are  stored,  convenient  to  the  river's  bank,  until  a  boat  arrives. 
To  those  who  live  at  some  distance  from  the  river  the  most  irregular 
schedule  of  shipping  is  a  very  great  disadvantage. 

Many  streams  which  are  not  navigable  for  boats  are  important  for 
rafting  lumber. 

RAILROADS 

Of  the  2,500  miles  of  railways  in  the  Ozark  Highland  of  Missouri 
approximately  30  per  cent  are  in  the  Springfield  Plain,  nearly  as  much  in 
the  Missouri  River  Border,  about  10  per  cent  each  in  the  Courtois  Hills, 

218 


TRAXSPORTATION  AND  COMMERCE 


219 


Mississippi  River  Border,  and  in  the  Central  Plateau,  and  the  remainder 
in  the  St.  Francois,  White  River,  and  Osage-Gasconade  districts.  Nearly 
two-thirds  of  the  total,  therefore,  is  in  the  narrow  border  areas  of  the 
west  and  north. 

The  net  is  densest  by  far  in  the  Springfield  Plain  (see  Fig.  43),  where 
the  prairie  surface  has  enabled  construction  of  railroads  at  low  cost, 
and  where  there  are  also  the  greatest  profits  to  be  secured  in  carrying  the 
products  of  mine  and  farm.  In  this  region  important  railroad  junctions 
have  been  formed  at  Joplin,  because  of  its  mines,  and  at  Springfield. 


Fig.  43. — Air-line  distances  from  railroads 


The  latter  city  is  the  first  railroad  center  of  southern  Missouri.  It  lies 
approximately  at  the  focal  point  from  which  the  most  important  Ozark 
streams  radiate,  including  several  forks  of  the  White  and  Gasconade 
rivers  and  the  headwaters  of  the  Spring,  Sac,  Pomme  de  Terre,  and 
Niangua  rivers.  The  even-crested  watersheds  between  these  streams 
form  the  most  convenient  location  for  railroads,  which  consequently 
intersect  at  Springfield.  The  Frisco  main  line,  for  example,  south  of 
St.  Louis  is  located  on  the  watershed  between  the  Meramec  and  Bourbois 
rivers,  crosses  the  Gasconade  River  (Plate  XXIII  o),  and  then  follows 
the  great  watershed  between  the  Gasconade  and  Osage  to  Springfield. 


2  20       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Its  Kansas  City-Memphis  branch  is  located  on  the  upland  between  the 
Pomme  de  Terre  and  Sac  rivers  north  of  Springfield  and  south  of  that  city 
on  the  divide  between  the  White  and  Gasconade  systems  (Plate  XXIII  b). 
The  main  shops  and  hospital  of  the  Frisco  Railroad  are  at  Springfield. 
There  are  2,500  railway  employees  in  the  city,  constituting  nearly  a 
fourth  of  the  wage-earners,  and  their  annual  pay-roll  was  said  to 
aggregate  $5,000,000  in  1915/ 

The  Missouri  River  Border  forms  an  important  passageway  for 
trunk  lines  between  the  East  and  the  far  West.  Here  are  main  lines  of 
the  Missouri  Pacific,  the  Rock  Island,  and  the  Missouri,  Kansas,  and 
Texas  railroads.  The  Missouri  Pacific  and  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Texas 
utilize  the  Missouri  flood  plain,  with  very  low  grades,  but  are  subject  to 
flooding  by  the  river,  and  are  in  serious  danger  of  washouts  when  freshets 
occur  in  the  hills.  The  larger  part  of  their  traffic  originates  outside  of 
this  area,  although  the  productivity  of  the  river  valley  and  its  advanced 
economic  development  result  in  heavy  local  freight.  The  Rock  Island, 
one  of  the  most  recent  roads  of  the  state,  takes  a  somewhat  more  cir- 
cuitous route  between  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  by  following  remnants 
of  the  old  peneplain,  but  has  thus  avoided  expense  in  bridges,  embank- 
ments, and  cuts,  as  well  as  upkeep.  The  only  difficult  engineering 
problem  which  it  has  confronted'  has  been  the  crossing  of  the  rough  belt 
adjacent  to  the  Osage  River.  The  roads  on  the  northern  border  are  in 
general  parallel,  no  important  roads  penetrate  the  Ozarks  from  the 
Missouri  River,  and  there  are  therefore  no  large  railroad  centers. 

On  the  east,  railway  construction  has  been  more  difficult  than  in  the 
other  border  regions,  because  the  drainage  is  directly  to  the  Mississippi 
by  many  small  streams  and  because  the  region  has  neither  extensive 
smooth  uplands  nor  large  valleys  which  railroads  may  follow.  The  two 
lines  of  the  Iron  Mountain,  as  well  as  the  Bonne  Terre  Railroad,  have 
followed  valleys  wherever  they  are  available.  The  table^  (p.  221)  shows 
distances  from  St.  Louis  and  altitudes  on  the  main  line  of  the  Iron 
Mountain  Railroad  and  indicates  the  grades  encountered.  The  latest 
important  railroad  lines  of  the  region  are  the  St.  Louis-Memphis  line  of 
the  Frisco,  and  the  Cape  Girardeau  Northern.  The  former  is  located  at 
the  base  of  the  Mississippi  River  bluffs,  and,  like  the  main  line  of  the 
Missouri  Pacific,  has  low  grades,  but  many  curves  and  trestles 
(Plate  XIII).  It  is  the  only  direct  line  between  St.  Louis  and  Memphis 
west  of  the  river.     The  Cape  Girardeau  Northern  is  built  to  tap  fertile 

^Missouri,  IQ12,  191 3,  191 4,  p.  578. 
'Missouri  Geol.  Surv.,  VIII,  255. 


TKAXSFORTATION  AXD  COMMERCE  221 

regions  of  Hagerstovvn  and  Fredericktown  soils  hitherto  unsupplied 
with  rail  facilities.  In  this  the  railroad  has  been  only  partially  successful, 
as  it  has  been  meagerly  financed  and  is  not  well  connected  with  larger 
systems  at  present.  In  considerable  part  it  was  not  operating  in  1918. 
The  Illinois  Southern  Railroad  gives  most  direct  connections  with  the 
coal  fields  of  southern  Illinois  and  hauling  coal  to  the  St.  Francois  min- 
ing district  is  its  most  important  business.  The  only  railroad  center  on 
the  east  is  Bismarck,  which  owes  its  significance  solely  to  the  railroad 
junction.  On  the  margins  of  the  area  are  Cape  Girardeau  and  Poplar 
Bluff,  both  at  gateways  between  the  Ozarks  and  the  Mississippi  lowlands. 
At  Poplar  Bluff  the  Black  River  opens  a  direct  route  of  easy  grade  into 
the  highland.  This  is  followed  by  the  main  line  of  the  Iron  Mountain. 
A  branch  line  of  the  Frisco,  running  southwest  from  Cape  Girardeau 
along  the  margin  of  the  southeastern  lowlands,  passes  through  Poplar 


Miles 

Feet  above  Sea-Level 

Irondale 

73 

79 

8S 

87 

91 

97 

119 

124 

131 

796 
1,025 
1,077 

1,139 

919 

1,198 

544 
842 

Bismarck 

Iron  Mountain 

Middlebrook 

Ironton 

Tiptop 

Des  .^rc 

Gad's  Hill 

Piedmont 

SOI 

Bluff.  Another  branch  railroad  has  been  built  from  there  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  River.  Poplar  Bluff  is  therefore  well  supplied  with  rail 
facilities.  It  is  also  a  rail  division  point.  Cape  Girardeau  is  the  leading 
center  of  transportation  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Missouri,  as  it  pos- 
sesses an  excellent  river  harbor,  three  railroads,  and  is  benefited  by  the 
bridge  across  the  Mississippi  at  Thebes. 

The  interior  region  is  traversed  by  three  railroads,  the  St.  Louis- 
Springfield  and  the  Springfield-Memphis  lines  of  the  Frisco  system,  and 
the  White  River  Route  of  the  Iron  Mountain.  In  addition  there  are 
three  local  branches  of  the  Frisco  as  well  as  the  Missouri  Southern  and 
the  Sligo  and  Eastern  lines,  all  of  which  are  in  the  Courtois  Hills  and 
are  built  principally  to  carry  timber  and  ore.  These  short  lines  are 
devious  and  have  heavy  grades.  In  the  Central  Plateau  the  construction 
of  railroads  is  hardly  more  difficult  than  in  the  plains  of  north  Missouri. 
The  main  lines  of  the  Frisco,  for  example,  follow  watersheds,  which  in 
large  part  are  more  nearly  level  than  most  glacial  plains.     Similarly, 


2  22        GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

some  years  ago,,  a  route  was  surveyed  from  Belle  in  Maries  County, 
through  Rolla  and  Licking  into  Arkansas,  on  which  it  is  said  that  not  a 
single  bridge  and  almost  no  grading  would  be  required.  The  resources 
and  stage  of  development  of  the  plateau,  however,  are  such  that  the 
number  of  railroads  is  small. 

The  lack  of  rail  facilities  is  a  most  serious  handicap  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Ozarks.  Fig.  43  shows  the  air-line  distance  to  rail  trans- 
portation. Considering  that  the  distances  by  road  are  greater  than 
linear  distances  and  that  railroad  stations  are  on  the  average  at  least 
five  miles  apart,  the  actual  length  of  haul  from  farm  to  rail  shipping- 
point  is  considerably  more  than  the  distances  shown  on  this  map.  In 
the  Springfield  Plain  the  actual  distance  is  at  least  one-third  greater, 
and  in  the  hill  districts  it  may  be  doubled.  In  the  border  regions  a 
farmer,  living  five  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  the  railroad,  may  haul 
two  loads  to  town  in  one  day  only  under  the  most  favorable  conditions. 
In  the  hills  he  can  make  only  one  round  trip  a  day  with  a  loaded  wagon. 
In  the  second  zone  not  more  than  one  haul  per  day  is  possible  by  wagon, 
and  in  the  hill  sections  twice  as  much  time  may  be  required.  The  first 
zone  therefore  is  the  only  one  having  adequate  transportation  facilities. 
Areas  located  beyond  the  ten-mile  line  are  seriously  handicapped,  and 
in  places  twenty-five  to  forty-five  miles  distant  from  rail  transportation 
the  exportation  of  farm  crops  and  minerals,  and  in  many  cases  also  of 
timber,  is  virtually  impossible.  The  map  further  understates  the  diffi- 
culty of  transportation,  as  some  of  the  timber  and  ore  railroads  are  not 
public  carriers,  some  charge  higher  freight  rates  than  normal,  and  some, 
as  the  Missouri  Southern  Railway,  have  outlets  only  to  the  south,  whereas 
the  trade  of  the  region  is  mostly  with  points  to  the  north. 

The  sections  which  are  remote  from  railroads  are  connected  with 
the  outside  world  by  hack  (stage)  and  freight  service,  usually  operated 
on  fairly  regular  schedule  by  professional  teamsters.  The  war  period 
has  seen  the  abandonment  of  certain  branch  lines,  as,  for  instance,  the 
scrapping  of  the  Ozark  Valley  Railway.  Nor  is  the  outlook  for  future 
building  of  branch  railways  promising.  The  promise  of  the  future 
appears  to  lie  in  the  substitution  of  automobile  truck  and  trailer  for  the 
present  teaming  service  on  the  ridge  roads  and  in  telferage  for  the 
hill  sections.  One  additional  major  railway  line,  however,  is  needed 
badly,  the  line  surveyed  north  and  south  from  Rolla,  which  could  be 
constructed  as  a  ridge-top  railroad  virtually  from  the  Missouri  River  to 
Arkansas,  would  give  a  north-south  line  through  the  heart  of  the  Ozarks, 
and  would  open  several  large  tracts  that  are  now  isolated. 


TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMERCE  223 

ROADS 

With  few  exceptions  the  main  traveled  highways  of  the  Ozark 
region  follow  the  crests  of  ridges  (Plate  XXIV  a).  The  exceptions  are 
principally  in  the  Springfield  Plain  and  on  the  larger  prairies  of  the 
Central  Plateau,  where  the  level  surface  allows  equally  facile  communi- 
cation in  all  directions.  The  ridge  roads  drain  well,  are  never  flooded, 
and  for  the  most  part  have  easy  grades.  They  are  located  in  most  cases 
on  the  longest  ridges^  which  require  the  fewest  crossings  of  valleys. 
Where  a  valley  is  tc  be  crossed  the  road  approaches  it  by  a  spur  or  tribu- 
tary valley  and  strikes  directly  across  to  the  next  ridge,  within  the 
shortest  distance  that  the  slopes  of  the  valley  permit.  On  a  few  of  the 
best  roads  the  steepest  part  of  the  slope  is  negotiated  by  means  of  warps 
or  serpentine  bends,  and  long  hills  are  supplied  with  balks  which  pre- 
vent washing  and  give  the  teams  a  chance  to  rest.  Most  roads,  how- 
ever, are  entirely  innocent  of  such  improvements.  In  the  hilly  sections 
the  main  roads  are  located  on  the  narrow,  flinty  crests  of  timbered  ridges, 
the  farms  lying  hidden  in  the  valleys.  These  roads  are  as  desolate  today 
as  they  were  a  century  ago,  when  Schoolcraft  wrote  of  them:  "The 
traveler  can  no  where  go  into  Washington  County,  keeping  the  main 
roads,  without  passing  over  some  of  the  most  sterile  soil  in  it.  For  the 
sake  of  getting  good  roads,  they  have  been  carried  along  the  tops  of  the 
most  sterile  flinty  ridges,  running  in  the  required  direction,  and  when  one 

deviated  too  far,  it  has  been  left,  and  another  ascended The 

traveler  riding  along  these,  is  ...  .  impressed  with  the  almost  unvaried 
barrenness  of  the  country."' 

From  the  ridge  roads  private  roads  lead  to  the  farms  that  are  located 
in  the  valleys.  If  the  valleys  are  sufficiently  large  they  are  followed 
usually  by  secondary  public  roads.  Roads  in  the  valleys  are  impassable 
at  times  because  of  freshets.  The  road  commonly  follows  gravel  bars 
marginal  to  the  stream  or,  if  the  stream  is  not  large,  even  the  stream  bed 
itself.  After  a  freshet  the  valley  roads  usually  need  to  be  cleared  of  the 
driftwood  that  has  lodged  in  them,  and  also  must  be  relocated  here  and 
there  to  avoid  quicksands,  undercut  banks,  and  washed-out  fords. 

The  making  and  care  of  roads  are  very  simple  in  the  interior  counties."^ 
A  road  is  made  usually  by  felling  timber  so  that  the  axle  of  a  wagon  will  J 
clear  the  stumps.     The  improvement  of  the  road  is  left  to  travel.     The 
soil  is  thin  and  is  underlain  in  most  places  by  several  feet  of  residual 
chert.     When  a  road  is  opened,  therefore,  the  soil  is  speedily  worn  away, 
and  the  roadbed  soon  becomes  a  mass  of  well-packed  chert,  which  forms 

'  View  of  the  Lead  Mines,  p.  52. 


224       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

an  excellent  natural  macadam  (Plate  XXIV  b) .  The  sharp  chert  causes 
tires  and  horseshoes  to  wear  out  rapidly.  Such  a  road  has  the  slightly 
roughened  surface  and  the  compactness  necessary  to  give  good  pulling 
power  and  drains  exceedingly  well.  With  very  little  care  it  remains  in 
excellent  condition  under  average  traffic.  For  the  most  part,  however, 
roads  receive  no  attention.  As  a  result,  especially  where  they  lie  on 
hillsides,  they  are  usually  in  bad  repair.  Lacking  ditches  along  their 
sides,  the  roads  serve  as  drains  for  the  hillside  and  soon  are  gullied,  in 
many  cases  down  to  bedrock.  When  this  happens,  a  new  trail  is  cleared, 
soon  to  be  destroyed  in  the  same  fashion.  This  process  may  continue 
until  the  present  road  is  flanked  by  older,  gullied  roads  to  a  width  of 
several  hundred  feet.  Plates  XXV  a,  b  show  roads  which  have  been 
injured  to  different  degrees  by  erosion.  As  indicated  in  Plate  XXV  b 
the  damage  to  hill  roads  by  erosion  is  greatest  in  regions  of  non-cherty 
soil. 

Streams  are  crossed  most  commonly  by  means  of  fords,  which  are 
located  at  broad  shallows,  formed  by  gravel  bars  (Plate  XXVI  a). 
Many  of  these  bars  are  probably  residual  rather  than  transported,  and 
do  not  change  their  positions.  Because  of  the  stability  of  these  bars, 
the  fords  may  remain  at  the  same  place  for  many  years.  In  some  cases 
they  have  not  changed  appreciably  since  the  first  settlement  of  the  region. 
They  are  usually  impassable  for  a  number  of  days  in  time  of  freshet  and 
may  be  dangerous  afterward,  until  the  gravel  and  sand  have  again  become 
compact.  Ferries  are  used  on  the  larger  streams  where  fords  are  want- 
ing. There  are  few  bridges,  in  some  counties  not  more  than  two  or 
three.  The  construction  of  bridges  is  One  of  the  most  serious  questions 
which  the  hill  counties  have  to  face.  In  every  county  there  are  districts 
from  which  a  shipping-point  can  be  reached  without  crossing  any  trouble- 
some stream.  The  residents  of  such  localities  usually  oppose  the  appro- 
priation of  county  funds  for  bridges.  Other  settlements  are  handicapped 
seriously  by  the  absence  of  bridges  and  are  strongly  in  favor  of  their  con- 
struction. Unfortunately,  in  many  counties  bridges  are  needed  at 
many  places,  and  each  location  has  its  supporters,  who  in  turn  are 
antagonized  by  the  partisans  of  other  sites,  with  the  not  uncommon 
result  that  nothing  is  done.  Bridge  building  not  rarely  is  the  livest 
issue  in  the  county  politics,  and  county  courts  stand  or  fall  by  their 
attitude  toward  this  problem. 

In  the  border  regions  the  main  traveled  highways  are  in  fair  or  good 
condition.  Most  of  the  border  counties  are  beginning  to  use  crushed 
rock  to  some  extent,  stone  of  excellent  quality  being  generally  available 


I 


TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMERCE  225 

for  this  purpose.  More  commonly  chert  from  the  creek  bars  is  used  and 
makes  a  cheap  and  fairly  satisfactory  surface  for  roads,  deficient,  how- 
ever, in  binding  qualities.  The  best  roads  are  in  the  mining  districts, 
which  have  not  only  abundant  revenue  for  the  construction  of  good  roads, 
but  can  make  use  of  the  huge  quantities  of  "chats,"  the  finely  crushed 
limestone  from  which  the  ore  has  been  removed.  Some  of  the  richer 
agricultural  counties,  as  Greene  and  Cooper,  have  many  excellent  roads. 
In  some  of  the  older  counties,  as  Cape  Girardeau,  many  roads  follow 
curious  and  devious  courses  up  and  down  hill.  These  are  old  roads 
which  came  to  be  in  this  manner.  The  old  homesteads  were  built  mostly 
on  elevations,  not  infrequently  detached  from  each  other.  Roads  were 
gradually  established  from  one  farmhouse  to  the  next.  Although  shorter 
and  easier  roads  could  be  constructed,  many  of  the  old  pattern  still  exist. 
In  the  border  counties  roads  are  being  relocated  so  as  to  cross  the  valleys 
by  long,  easy  slopes.  This  necessitates  blasting  and  filling.  Such  a 
road  is  shown  in  process  of  construction  on  Plate  XXVI  b.  The  dost 
has  prevented  the  general  introduction  of  this  type,  but  it  may  be  con- 
sidered the  permanent  form  to  which  roads  of  the  entire  region  will 
approach  ultimately. 

COMMERCIAL   CENTERS 

In  the  sections  which  are  deficient  in  railroad  facilities  commercial 
development  is  most  primitive.  Exports  are  largely  cattle  and  lumber, 
in  the  handling  of  which  a  relatively  small  number  of  people  are  engaged. 
Because  these  districts  sell  little  they  buy  little.  Their  wants  are  sup- 
plied largely  by  crossroads  stores,  which  carr\'  the  ordinary  staples  and 
collect  produce.  These  stores  are  operated  commonly  by  men  who  com- 
bine storekeeping  with  other  occupations,  usually  farming.  Storekeeper, 
farmer,  postmaster,  and  barber  may  be  combined  in  one  person.  Within 
half  a  dozen  miles  of  a  railroad  few  such  stores  exist.  Beyond  that  dis- 
tance, however,  they  become  increasingly  numerous,  as  the  people 
find  it  more  and  more  difficult  to  get  to  a  town. 

Because  of  larger  resources,  easier  communication,  and  more 
advanced  development  the  number  and  size  of  commercial  centers  is 
greater  in  the  border  than  in  the  central  regions.  In  most  parts  of 
the  Ozarks  commercial  advantages  are  not  centralized  in  any  locality 
to  any  great  extent,  and  as  a  result  there  are  many  small  towns  rather 
than  a  few  of  considerable  size.  Of  the  twenty  Ozark  cities  having  a 
population  in  1910  in  e.xcess  of  2,500,  nine  are  supported  primarily  by 
trade   and    transportation.     These    arc    Springfield,    Cape    Girardeau, 


y 


226       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Poplar  Bluff,  Boonville,  Washington,  Neosho,  West  Plains,  Frederick- 
town,  and  Farmington.  Eight  are  dependent  on  mining  industries, 
two  are  important  solely  as  railroad  division  points,  and  one  chiefly 
as  the  seat  of  the  state  government. 

Springfield  (35,201  inhabitants  in  1910)  is  the  largest  city  as  well  as 
the  leading  commercial  center  of  the  Ozarks.  Its  rank  is  due  to  its 
position  relative  to  lines  of  communication  in  a  fertile  section.  Because 
of  its  excellent  shipping  facilities  it  has  developed  a  large  wholesale  and 
retail  business.  It  has  wholesale  grocery,  dry-goods,  hardware,  produce, 
drug,  fruit,  and  other  establishments.  It  is  estimated  that  a  thousand 
traveling  men  make  their  headquarters  at  Springfield  because  of  its  com- 
mercial advantages.  After  Springfield  and  the  cities  of  the  Joplin 
mining  district,  Neosho  (3,661)  is  the  largest  city  and  the  one  most 
important  commercially  in  the  Springfield  Plain.  It  is  located  at  the 
convergence  of  three  creeks,  which  have  been  utilized  by  as  many 
railroads.  The  city  has  rail  service  in  five  directions  and  thus  has 
become  a  commercial  center.  Most  of  the  other  trading  centers  of  the 
Springfield  Plain  possess  little  geographic  distinction.  In  this  level 
region  there  are  few  sites  that  have  any  marked  natural  merit,  their 
locations  being  more  or  less  accidental.  The  successful  cities'  are 
either  railroad  junctions,  as  Pierce  City  (2,943),  Ash  Grove  (1,075),  ^"^^ 
Crane  (1,002),  or  county  seats,  selected  because  of  central  location,  as 
Greenfield  (1,434),  Mount  Vernon  (1,161),  and  Cassville  (781),  or  merely 
railroad  shipping-points  more  or  less  central  to  a  prosperous  farm  region, 
the  settlement  usually  having  been  established  at  an  early  date,  as 
Sarcoxie  (1,311),  Marionville  (1,272),  and  Humansville  (913).  On  the 
northern  margin  of  the  area  Osceola  (1,114)  and  Warsaw  (824)  are  old 
ports  on  the  Osage  River  which  have  retained  part  of  their  importance 
because  two  railroads  cross  at  the  former  place  and  one  terminates  at 
the  latter. 

In  the  Missouri  River  Border  most  of  the  important  trade  centers  are 
on  the  Missouri  River.  These  places  originated  where  good  landings 
were  combined  with  easy  access  to  the  interior.  The  cities  of  this  class 
are  Jefferson  City  (11,850),  Boonville  (4,252),  Washington  (3,670), 
Hermann  (1,592),  Glasgow  (1,507),  New  Haven  (855),  New  Franklin 
(794),  and  Chamois  (649).  Their  commerce  at  present  is  carried  mostly 
by  rail,  but  they  retain  the  advantage  of  competitive  water  rates. 
Because  of  floods  the  sites  of  these  cities  are  mainly  on  the  hilly  upland, 

'  In  Missouri  a  great  many  places  of  a  few  hundred  inhabitants  are  incorporated 
as  cities. 


TRANSPORTATIOX  AND  COMMERCE  227 

which  gives  to  them  a  picturesque  appearance.  On  the  southern  margin 
of  the  region  a  number  of  important  centers  have  formed  on  the  long 
watershed  followed  by  the  Frisco  Railroad.  Here  is  Rolla  (2,261), 
on  a  narrow  upland  which  forms  a  passage  between  the  northern  border 
and  the  Central  Plateau.  Southeastward  and  westward  of  Rolla  is  a 
rough  hill  country,  and  only  through  this  passage  is  there  easy  connec- 
tion between  the  northern  part  of  the  Central  Plateau  and  the  outside 
world.  Rolla  is  the  shipping-point,  therefore,  for  an  area  extending  fully 
fifty  miles  to  the  south.  St.  James  (1,100),  Sullivan  (934),  and  Cuba 
(619)  are  shipping-points  on  the  Frisco,  located  on  the  main  divide 
between  the  Meramec  and  Bourbeuse  rivers  at  points  where  secondary 
watersheds  join  the  main  ridge.  Each  of  the  smaller  divides  forms  a  strip 
of  prairie  a  number  of  miles  in  length  and  several  miles  wide,  on  which 
are  numerous  farms.  The  territory  tributary  to  each  of  these  cities 
consists  chiefly  of  one  or  two  ''prairies."  On  the  Rock  Island  Railroad, 
Owensville  (677)  is  located  similarly.  This  type  of  location  is  illustrated 
west  of  the  Osage  River  by  California  (2,154),  Eldon  (1,999),  Versailles 
(1,598),  and  Tipton  (1,273). 

On  the  eastern  border,  Cape  Girardeau  (8,475),  possessing  rail  and 
water  facilities,  and  serving  as  a  gateway  between  Ozark  Highland  and 
Mississippi  lowlands,  has  kept  far  ahead  of  the  other  cities.  Its  recent 
rapid  increase,  more  than  75  per  cent  in  the  decade  1900-1910,  is  due 
principally  to  extensive  reclamation  of  fertile  farmland  by  drainage  in 
southeast  Missouri,  for  which  it  is  the  chief  entrepot.  The  southeastern 
lowlands  may  be  likened  to  a  funnel  with  the  apex  pointing  north.  At 
this  apex  Cape  Girardeau  lies,  and  through  it  flows  a  large  part  of  the 
trade  of  this  section.  Ste.  Genevieve  (1,967)  and  St.  Mary's  (702),  like 
the  Missouri  River  towns,  have  developed  railroad  interests  to  supply 
the  waning  river  trade.  Jackson  (2,105)  ^^^  Perryville  (1,708)  continue 
to  be  good  trading  centers,  principally  because  they  are  surrounded  by 
fertile  farming  districts,  and  because  of  their  early  start  and  accumulated 
prosperity.  Similarly,  in  the  St.  Francois  region  the  old  nuclei  of  settle- 
ment retain  their  pre-eminence  in  commerce  and  population,  as  in  the 
case  of  Farmington  (2,613)  and  Fredericktown  (2,632). 

In  the  Ozark  Center  a  majority  of  the  important  trade  centers  are 
situated  on  the  upland  at  the  intersection  of  strips  of  prairie.  On  the 
Frisco  Railroad,  Lebanon,  Marshfield,  Richland  (884),  and  Di.xon  (715) 
are  examples.  Lebanon  (2,430)  is  the  center  of  trade  for  half  a  dozen 
counties,  for  long  prairie  ridges  lead  off  from  there  to  the  east,  south, 
and  northwest  and  form  numerous  approaches  to  isolated  parts  of  the 


228       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Gasconade  and  Big  Niangua  valleys.  Marshfield  (1,193)  lies  where  the 
railroad  crosses  the  Elkland  Plateau.  Other  cities  of  this  type  are 
Mountain  Grove  (1,722)  and  Seymour  (590),  on  the  southern  line  of  the 
Frisco,  and  Buffalo  (820)  and  Ava  (713).  In  more  dissected  regions 
towns  are  located  preferably  at  the  margins  of  the  river  valleys,  where 
converging  tributaries  give  access  from  various  directions.  The  danger 
from  floods  usually  prevents  the  location  of  a  town  immediately  upon 
the  floor  of  the  larger  valleys.  The  site  chosen  is  commonly  on  the  lower 
slopes  of  tributaries  adjacent  to  a  larger  valley.  The  exact  site  is 
determined  in  a  number  of  cases  by  a  large  spring  which  affords  water  and 
power.  To  the  valley  margin  type  belong  Salem  (1,796),  Willow 
Springs  (1,401),  Doniphan  (1,225),  Cabool  (789),  Steelville  (773), 
Hartville  (507),  Linn  Creek  (435),  and  Waynesville  (257).  In  the 
White  River  country  the  "bench  lands"  provide  ample  room  and 
security,  as  in  the  case  of  Galena  (353),  Branson,  and  others. 

COMMERCIAL  RELATIONS   OF   THE   HIGHLAND   WITH   ST.    LOUIS 

AND   KANSAS   CITY 

The  wholesale  business  of  the  Ozarks  is  done  mostly  with  St.  Louis 
and  Kansas  City,  to  a  much  smaller  extent  with  Springfield  and  Joplin. 
Of  the  former  two  St.  Louis  is  in  much  the  better  location,  (i)  St.  Louis 
is  situated  on  the  northeastern  margin,  and  is  therefore  on  a  nearly 
direct  line  between  the  Ozarks  and  the  industrial  sections  of  the  north 
and  east.  Goods  moving  to  or  from  the  Ozarks  through  Kansas  City, 
to  the  northwest  of  the  Ozarks,  make  a  detour  in  most  cases.  (2)  The 
railroads  are  so  arranged  that  all  counties  east  and  north  of  a  line  drawn 
from  Ripley  County  to  Webster  County  and  from  there  due  north  have 
better  connections  with  St.  Louis  than  with  Kansas  City.  (3)  Spring- 
field and  Joplin  divide  a  considerable  territory  with  Kansas  City  but 
do  not  interfere  with  the  St.  Louis  trade.  The  greater  part  of  the 
Ozark  region,  therefore,  with  the  exception  of  the  western  border,  trades 
mostly  with  St.  Louis. 

In  the  competition  for  the  trade  of  the  southwestern  states  the  Ozark 
Highland  is  a  handicap  to  St.  Louis  in  favor  of  Kansas  City.  On  the 
north  and  east  the  territory  tributary  to  St.  Louis  is  small,  due  to  the 
competition  of  Chicago.  The  chief  direction  of  expansion  for  the  com- 
merce of  St.  Louis  is  to  the  south  and  west.  Here,  however,  the 
Ozarks  interpose  a  partial  barrier,  which  has  tended  to  aid  the  growth 
of  Kansas  City  rather  than  of  St.  Louis.  From  St.  Louis  the  Frisco 
Railroad  is  the  only  direct  line  across  the  Ozarks  to  the  Southwest.     The 


TRANSPORTATION  AND  COMMERCE  229 

Iron  Mountain  and  Cotton  Belt  railroads,  which  skirt  the  southern 
margin  of  the  Ozarks,  are  the  two  other  important  arteries  that  connect 
St.  Louis  with  the  Southwest.  Kansas  City,  on  the  other  hand,  has  the 
main  lines  of  the  Rock  Island,  Santa  Fe,  Missouri,  Kansas  and  Texas, 
and  other  railways  running  directly  to  the  southwest.  These  are  built 
across  a  nearly  level  surface  at  low  cost  and  are  maintained  at  less 
expense  than  the  roads  operating  through  the  Ozarks.  Kansas  City  is 
also  on  a  direct  line  between  Chicago  and  a  large  part  of  the  Southwest 
and  serves  as  a  distributing  point  for  the  latter  city.  It  is  natural, 
therefore,  to  find  Kansas  City  appropriating  an  increasing  share  of  the 
southwestern  trade. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  OZARKS  AS  RECREATION  GROUND 

FISHING  AND  HUNTING 

The  organized  summer-  and  health-resort  business  is  in  its  infancy 
in  the  Ozark  region,  which  has  been  too  inaccessible  in  large  part  and  too 
little  known  to  attract  the  ordinary  summer  traveler.  It  is  largely 
because  of  this  fact  that  the  region  is  frequented  by  many  who  enjoy 
hunting,  fishing,  and  camp  life.  In  a  number  of  places  large  tracts  of 
wild  land  are  kept  as  game  preserves  by  clubs  or  individuals.  Probably 
the  greatest  number  of  visitors  come  primarily  to  fish.  The  Ozark 
streams  provide  bass  fishing  that  is  perhaps  unsurpassed  in  the  country. 
Jack  salmon,  sunfish,  and  other  fish  give  variety  to  the  sport.  In  muddy 
pools  bullfrogs,  eels,  and  catfish  are  taken.  Live  bait  is  secured  readily 
from  the  vast  numbers  of  minnows  that  feed  in  the  shoals.  In  addition, 
at  the  proper  season,  there  is  usually  good  hunting  for  quail,  squirrels, 
turkey,  opossum,  and  raccoon.  Add  to  these  attractions  a  camping  site 
on  a  clean  gravel  bar,  near  a  spring  of  clear,  cold  water,  in  the  midst  of 
the  forest  solitude,  and  the  conditions  are  almost  ideal  for  a  recreative 
vacation.  In  summer  and  autumn  one  may  discover  a  camping  party 
in  almost  any  section  of  the  Ozarks,  no  matter  how  remote.  So  long 
as  no  disorder  occurs  these  parties  are  accorded  the  same  freedom  of  the 
country  which  the  native  enjoys.  It  should  be  added  that  the  last  few 
years  have  seen  in  some  sections  a  serious  depletion  of  wild  life  due  to  the 
use  of  automobiles  in  hunting  and  fishing  expeditions. 

Camping  vacations  are  popular,  especially  with  business  men  from 
St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City.  St.  Louis  has  within  an  hour's  ride  beautiful 
Meramec  Valley,  to  which  in  summer  a  special  week-end  train  service 
is  operated  by  both  railroads.  For  those  who  have  more  time  the  upper 
Gasconade  River,  especially  the  Osage  and  Big  Piney  forks,  and  the 
Niangua  River  offer  splendid  camping  opportunities.  "Float"  trips 
are  becoming  popular  here.  At  some  convenient  point  the  party,  usually 
accompanied  by  a  guide,  starts  down  the  river  in  fla;t-bottomed  boats, 
which  are  rowed  or  poled  when  desired.  The  canoe,  although  well  suited 
to  Ozark  streams,  is  almost  unknown.  The  trips  are  usually  taken  in 
very  leisurely  fashion,  numerous  stops  being  made  to  fish.  Camp  is 
pitched  on  a  gravel  bar  or  at  a  spring.     A  float  may  last  a  day  or  several 

230 


THE  OZARKS  AS  RECREATION  GROUND  231 

weeks,  and  usually  ends  at  a  railroad  point,  from  which  the  boats  return 
to  their  starting-place. 

Trips  of  this  sort  are  also  popular  south  of  St.  Louis.  On  the  St. 
Francois  River  it  is  possible  to  float  from  Fredericktown  through  many 
miles  of  rugged  igneous  knobs  to  Greenville,  Chaonia,  or  Fisk.  On  the 
Black  River  a  float  of  similar  nature  may  be  begun  at  Centerville  and 
continued  to  a  convenient  point  on  the  Iron  Mountain  Railroad.  One  of 
the  finest  trips  for  sportsmen  is  down  the  Current  River,  beginning  at 
some  point  south  of  Salem  and  continued  to  Van  Buren  or  Doniphan. 

Kansas  City  has  no  such  regions  near  at  hand.  It  has  better  access, 
however,  than  St.  Louis  to  the  James  and  White  river  valleys,  the  best 
of  all  vacation  regions  in  the  Ozarks.  This  section  is  frequented  espe- 
cially by  people  from  Kansas  City,  Springfield,  and  the  Joplin  district. 
One  of  the  best-known  institutions  of  the  regions  is  a  float,  usually  from 
Galena  to  Branson  or  beyond.  The  Galena-Branson  float  is  about  a 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  and  requires  ordinarily  about  six  days. 
The  renting  of  boats  and  camp  outfits  has  become  a  considerable  business, 
and  dozens  of  guides  are  engaged  at  one  time  in  making  the  trip,  the 
parties  fishing  and  camping  out  on  the  way.  This  float  is  through  a 
region  which  is  not  surpassed  for  scenery  in  the  Middle  West  and 
which  also  affords  some  of  the  best  fishing  in  the  state. 

FAMILY   RESORTS 

In  the  less  remote  parts  families  from  the  cities  spend  their  summers. 
Resort  hotels  are  few,  the  principal  ones  being  at  Leasburg  and  Bourbon 
on  the  Meramec,  Jerome  on  the  Gasconade,  Hahatonka  in  Camden 
County,  and  Hollister  on  the  White  River.  Many  families,  however, 
take  summer  boarders.  There  are  numerous  summer  cottages  of  Kansas 
City  people  on  James  Fork  at  Galena  and  on  White  River  at  Hollister 
and  Branson.  The  dam  at  Powersite  forms  a  magnificent  artificial 
lake,  twenty-three  miles  long,  called  Lake  Taneycomo.  Due  to  the 
attractiveness  of  this  lake  and  the  rugged,  semi-mountainous  scenery 
which  surrounds  it,  Hollister  and  Branson  have  become  much-visited 
summer  resorts.  At  the  former  place  a  Y.M.C.A.  encampment  and  a 
Presbyterian  camp  have  become  widely  attended  institutions.  A  few 
St.  Louis  people  have  built  cottages  on  the  Meramec  and  Gasconade 
rivers  and  in  Iron  County,  and  many  more  board  with  farmers.  The 
Frisco  Railroad  has  recently  met  with  some  success  in  directing  the  atten- 
tion of  people  of  Memphis  to  the  vacation  opportunities  in  the  eastern 


232       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

Ozarks.  Outside  of  the  cities  lying  adjacent  to  the  Ozarks  the  highland 
is  almost  unknown  for  vacation  purposes.  Even  from  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City  a  much  greater  number  of  people  leave  annually  for  the 
eastern  and  northern  resorts  than  come  to  the  Ozarks.  One  reason  for 
this  undoubtedly  is  that  a  vacation  in  the  Ozarks  is  attended  by  few 
of  the  ordinary  amenities  of  city  life  and  by  none  of  the  social  allure- 
ments with  which  the  established  resorts  are  provided  abundantly. 
Also,  the  Ozark  climate  is  the  climate  of  the  rest  of  Missouri,  with  the 
exception  that  cottages  built  on  the  valley  slopes  enjoy  cool  nights. 
For  persons  of  moderate  means,  who  enjoy  bathing,  canoeing,  fishing, 
-^  forested  hills,  bare  bluffs  and  ledges,  and  pioneer  simplicity,  the  Ozarks 
are  an  excellent  recreation  ground.  It  costs  little  to  reach  any  section 
from  St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  or  other  points  in  Missouri.  The  natives 
are  unspoiled  as  yet,  and  all  commodities,  as  well  as  lodging  and  board, 
can  be  secured  at  very  low  prices. 

Health  resorts  are  almost  non-existent.  Medicinal  springs  at  De  Soto, 
Boonville,  and  Paris  Springs,  Lawrence  County,  enjoy  somewhat  more 
than  local  repute.  At  Mount  Vernon  is  the  state  hospital  for  tubercu- 
losis.   Otherwise  the  region  is  without  sanitaria  or  spas. 

PROPOSAL   OF   A   STATE   PARK 

The  increased  attention  which  this  region  is  receiving  from  summer 
visitors  has  resulted  in  a  movement  for  the  creation  of  a  state  park. 
The  site  spoken  of  most  has  been  at  Hahatonka,  in  Camden  County, 
Here,  in  the  midst  of  the  rugged  Osage  River  hills,  is  one  of  the  largest 
springs  in  the  world,  which  feeds  an  artificial  lake.  Here  is  also  a  fine 
natural  bridge,  as  well  as  much  hill  and  bluff  scenery.  At  this  place  one 
of  the  very  few  resorts  of  the  Ozarks  has  been  established  and  has  pro- 
vided an  opportunity  for  people  to  become  acquainted  with  the  beauties 
of  the  locality.  Not  far  away  are  the  bluffs  and  "balds"  of  the  sinuous 
Big  Niangua  Valley.  The  upper  Black  River,  with  its  "shut-ins," 
towering  porphyry  knobs,  and  unending  forested  slopes,  is  also  to  be 
considered  as  the  site  of  a  state  park.  At  latest  accounts  the  state  was 
about  to  initiate  its  park  program  by  the  securing  of  the  old  Meramec 
Springs  property,  at  one  of  the  sources  of  the  Meramec.  The  difficulty 
lies  not  in  finding  an  area  that  will  meet  every  need  of  a  state  park,  but 
in  making  a  beginning  by  concentrating  attention  on  one  of  these  sites. 
Few  states  have  the  choice  of  such  excellent  sites  for  public  recreation, 
and  the  state  of  Missouri  should  not  long  delay  taking  the  necessary 


THE  OZARKS  AS  RECREATION  GROUND  233 

Steps  for  their  preservation.  When  this  happens  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
the  charm  of  the  Ozarks  will  become  known  to  a  larger  group  of  people, 
and  that  other  areas  will  be  set  aside  from  time  to  time  for  the  per- 
petual recreation  of  the  public.  In  this  manner,  at  little  additional 
expense,  sanctuary  could  be  provided  to  the  vanishing  wild  life  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  even  now  largely  driven  out  of  the  agricultural 
districts  of  the  prairie  state,  and  fast  being  reduced  even  in  the  Ozark 
forests. 


CONCLUSION 

In  wealth,  population,  and  stage  of  development  the  Ozark  Highland, 
considered  as  a  whole,  is  far  inferior  to  the  plains  of  north  Missouri. 
Accessibility  by  river  and  variety  of  resources,  especially  the  presence 
of  widely  scattered  lead  deposits,  made  its  borders  the  first  part  of 
Missouri  to  be  settled  and  long  gave  to  these  border  sections  pre- 
eminence in  state  affairs.  In  time,  however,  the  superior  acreage  and 
productivity  of  the  prairies  of  north  Missouri  enabled  them  to  outstrip 
the  settlements  of  the  highland  border.  As  striking  as  the  contrast 
between  the  highland  and  the  rest  of  the  state  is  that  between  the 
bordering  and  the  central  regions  of  the  Ozarks.  The  former  have  made 
consistent  progress  from  the  earliest  period,  and  are  today  in  a  very 
fair  state  of  development.  They  have  many  moderately  prosperous 
farmers  and  some  wealthy  ones.  Industrial  development  is  beginning. 
Transportation  conditions  are  at  least  fairly  adequate.  These  border 
areas  possess  the  conservatism  that  comes  of  several  resident  generations, 
but  they  are  far  from  being  backward.  The  central  region,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  in  a  rather  primitive  condition,  due  primarily  to  isolation,  in 
second  place  to  poverty  of  the  country,  and  not  in  any  large  degree  to 
the  inherent  character  of  the  people.  Productive  activities  here  for  the 
most  part  are  little  specialized.  One  man  may  be  alternately  crop 
farmer,  stock  raiser,  tie  cutter,  miner,  and  teamster.  The  Ozark  Center 
again  shows  strong  contrasts  between  its  component  parts.  Of  the 
interior  regions  the  Central  Plateau  is  more  advanced  than  are  the  hill 
sections.  These  last  constitute  the  area  of  sparsest  population  in  the 
state j (Fig.  44).  The  contrast  between  the  various  sections  is  well  illus- 
tratea  by  the  fact  that  of  the  cities  and  towns  with  a  population  in 
excess  of  500  in  1910  seventy-four  were  in  the  Ozark  border  regions  (of 
which  thirty-two  belonged  to  the  Springfield  Plain)  and  only  twenty- 
four  in  the  interior  districts.  Of  these  twenty-four,  nineteen  were 
located  in  the  Central  Plateau  and  only  five  in  the  three  hill  sections, 
which  are  of  considerably  larger  extent  than  the  plateau  area. 

The  Ozark  Highland  will  never  possess  the  wealth  nor  the  popula- 
tion of  adjoining  districts.  It  is  quite  incorrect,  however,  to  consider  it 
doomed  perpetually  to  poverty  and  sparse  settlement.  In  this  part  of 
the  country  the  esteem  of  an  area  has  always  been  determined  primarily 

234 


CONCLUSION 


235 


by  its  adaptation  to  field  agriculture  and  by  its  mineral  wealth.  Because 
the  Ozarks  are  much  inferior  in  production  of  grains  to  the  adjacent 
prairies  the  aspiring  settler  has  passed  them  by.  This  is  too  narrow  a 
standard  for  judging  of  the  merits  of  a  region,  yet  this  is  the  standard 
that  has  been  set  in  the  Middle  West.  The  Ozarks  possess  opportunities, 
as  yet  but  poorly  recognized,  which  ultimately  will  bring  the  region 
into  much  better  repute  than  it  has  at  present.     The  following  lines  of 


■1   .    ^  ^     ■ 

;  ;;-.-\ 

»f*    IOUAM    HlkC 

:[5| 

1                1      ».U»   TP»*«    * 

-  J-'':  ■ 

1>S1      5n>    . 

V"'  ' 

\M  "•'• 

^m " '» " 

:i 


I-'-;-' 


,:  «! 


1 „_A 


> 


Fig.  44. — Population  in  1910  {Thirteenth  Census,  Stalislical  Alias) 


development,  in  particular,  are  forecast,  (i)  The  grain-farming  system 
now  in  vogue  is  ill  adapted  to  large  sections  of  the  area.  The  Ozark 
farmer  is  in  much  the  same  condition  as  the  upland  farmer  of  New  Eng- 
land and  New  York.  He  cannot  make  an  adequate  living  at  growing 
com  in  competition  with  his  prairie  neighbor.  Agricultural  practice 
must  be  readjusted,  (a)  Permanent  agriculture  will  depend  primarily 
on  dairying  and  stock  raising.  For  this  t>'pe  of  farming  the  region  is 
properly  constituted.  Throughout  the  highland  are  large  tracts  of  hill 
land  associated  with  small,  but  on  the  whole  well-distributed,  tracts  of 


236       GEOGRAPHY  OF   THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 

good  plowland.  Some  of  the  latter  is  on  uplands,  probably  more  lies  in 
bottoms.  This  association  of  good  land  for  crop  growing  with  cheap 
land  for  pasturage  is  of  the  greatest  advantage  to  animal  husbandry. 
The  cultivable  lands  are  sufficient  for  the  production  of  most  if  not  all 
of  the  grain  and  hay  that  may  be  required  for  the  feeding  of  stock.  The 
upland  farms  especially  could  be  maintained  in  a  much  more  productive  I 

condition  by  this  practice,  much  of  the  land  having  been  sadly  depleted 
through  the  long-continued  removal  of  its  crop./^  Hill  land  that  cannot 
be  cultivated  is  considered  at  present  nearly  worthless.     A  not  incon- 
siderable part  of  it,  however,  can  be  converted  into  profitable  pasturage. 
It  must  be  remembered  tha  t  these  hillsides  are  not  lacking  in  plant  food. 
The  soil  is  readily  eroded  when  laid  bare,  it  becomes  rather  dry  in  sum- 
mer, and  it  lies  on  difficult  slopes.     The  chief  problem  is  that  of  develop- 
ing pastures  which  can  maintain  themselves  under  deficient  moisture 
conditions  of  summer  and  which  can  stand  grazing.     The  bluestem  and 
blue  grass  in  the  main  are  not  satisfactory  Ozark  pasture  grasses.     Much 
better  results  have  been  secured  with  orchard  grass.     Lespedeza  and 
sweet  clover  have  demonstrated  as  volunteer  growth  that  they  succeed 
on  almost  any  hillside.     Lespedeza  has  in  fact  become  a  very  important 
factor  in  grazing  in  the  southeastern  counties  and  has  improved  the 
pasturage  there  very  notably  in  the  last  few  years.    Another  interesting 
possibility  is  the  Bermuda  grass  of  the  South,  with  its  almost  indestruct- 
ible turf,  which  is  now  successfully  established  in  a  number  of  localities. 
With  these  and  other  pasture  plants  it  may  be  expected  that  largely 
increased  values  will  result  for  many  tracts  that  now  are  producing  vir- 
tually nothing.     The  remarkable  wealth  of  springs  will  also  be  a  large 
asset  in  the  development  of  a  farm  system  centering  about  animal  prod- 
ucts, as  will  the  mild  winters  and  the  nearness  of  a  number  of  large 
markets.     In  the  farm  economy  of  the  future  it  may  be  possible  to  assign 
an  important  place  to  sheep,  especially  for  the  production  of  lambs  and 
mutton,     (b)  The  area  has  superior  adaptations  to  horticulture.     Its 
southern  part  has  many  localities  in  which  peaches  enjoy  a  high  measure 
of  immunity  from  unseasonable  frosts.     Apples  are  known  to  do  very 
well  and  most  other  fruits  of  intermediate  latitudes  may  be  grown  suc- 
cessfully.    For  commercial  production  the  time  at  which  these  fruits 
would  enter  northern  markets  is  favorable.     For  a  long  time  to  come, 
however,  it  is  idle  to  expect  any  large  planting  of  orchards  on  rough 
hills.    The  encroachment  of  the  orchard  areas  will  be  rather  on  the  areas 
now  used  for  general  farming  than  on  the  rough,  wooded  slopes.     The 
substitution  of  orchards  for  general  fields  is  most  likely  to  take  place 


CONCLUSION  237 

especially  on  the  rather  thin,  stony  soils  of  the  valley  margins.  A  most 
serious  retarding  feature  at  present  is  the  lack,  of  growers'  organizations. 
Especially  in  the  loess-covered  border  areas  the  experimental  culture  of 
nut  trees  should  be  encouraged.  (2)  Forestry  is  unknown  locally.  After 
deducting  all  areas  that  may  be  converted  to  some  form  of  agricultural 
use  there  will  still  be  thousands  of  square  miles  which  should  remain  in 
timber.  In  the  Courtois  and  Osage-Gasconade  hill  sections  this  will 
include  tracts  of  many  thousands  of  acres  in  one  body.  The  present 
growth  is  largely  unsatisfactory  because  of  excessive  density  of  stand. 
Under  proper  management  the  Ozarks  may  support  oak  forests  which 
will  become  a  permanent  resource  of  national  significance,  since  they 
may  help  to  preserve  our  dwindling  supply  of  hardwoods.  (3)  There 
is  little  doubt  that  Ozark  streams  and  springs,  properly  developed,  can 
furnish  permanent  power  for  more  extensive  manufactures  than  are  now 
operated  within  the  state  from  all  sources  of  power.  (4)  Although  the 
mineral  wealth  of  the  Ozarks  does  not  equal  the  popular  estimation, 
there  are  possibilities  of  the  extension  of  mineral  industries.  (5)  It  is 
to  be  hoped  that  the  many  idyllic  spots  in  which  the  region  abounds  may 
be  preserved  forever,  and  that  with  the  continued  urban  growth  in  the 
surrounding  areas  the  Ozarks  may  become  more  familiar  to  the  people 
of  the  cities.  There  are  few  better  localities  for  recreation  than  may  be 
found  in  the  Ozarks.  These  are  all  possibilities  worthy  of  serious  con- 
sideration. They  will  be  realized  only  slowly  and  imperfectly,  however, 
under  the  existing  conditions  of  scattered  individual  initiative.  The 
state  of  Missouri  needs  a  policy  of  conservation  and  development  for 
this  area,  which  embraces  about  one-half  of  the  state.  Few  matters, 
indeed,  are  of  more  vital  concern  to  the  state  than  this. 

By  developing  along  the  lines  sketched  above  the  Ozark  Highland 
will  offer  homes  to  a  much  larger  number  of  people  under  much  better 
conditions  than  at  present.  Few  of  them  will  accumulate  large  wealth, 
but,  engaged  in  useful  pursuits,  they  will  be  strangers  to  poverty,  and 
they  may  participate  equitably  in  the  progress  of  the  state.  By  thus 
becoming  the  seat  of  an  enlightened  and  contented  population,  preserving 
still  the  democratic  spirit  which  it  now  possesses,  this  region  in  the  future 
may  make  its  appropriate  and  sufTicient  contribution  to  our  national  life. 


INDEX 


I 


INDEX 


Agriculture:  French,  85  ff.;  frontier,  117; 
early  products,  117  IT.;  Sprini^field 
Plain,  141-42;  Ozark  Center,  159; 
present,  191  ff.;  possibilities,  235-36 

Ann^e  des  grandes  eaux,  79-80 

Apple  Creek,  88 

Arcadia  Valley,  11 

Area  of  Ozarks,  3 

Auglaize  Creek,  68 

Austin,  Moses,  106 

Balds,  17,  56 

Barrows,  H.  H.,  acknowledgments  to,  ix 

Baryte,  45-46,  215 

Big  River,  64,  65,  107 

Black  River,  13,  41,  49,  68,  231,  232 

Bois  Brule,  105 

Bollinger,  164 

Boone,  Daniel,  109 

Boonslick:  road,  133;  settlement,  109  ff.; 
tobacco,  119 

Borders:    dissection,  23;    regions,  61  ff., 

234 
Boston  Mountains,  6,  7 
Boundaries  of  Ozarks,  3,  7 
Brooks,  lack  of,  17-18 

Cahokia,  74,  80 

Castor  River,  13,  41,  68 

Central  Plateau,  70;  crops  and  stock, 
192,  195,  199,  202;  roads,  223;  settle- 
ment, 156-57;   wild  land,  178 

Char(r)ette  Creek,  90,  109 

Chert,  16,  36,  42 

Cities,  towns,  and  other  settlements  of 
Ozarks:  Alton,  51;  Arcadia,  68; 
Arlington,  218;  Ash  Grove,  214,  226; 
Aurora,  28,  145-46,  211;  Ava,  228; 
Bagncll.  24  [map],  rail  head,  183;  Bel- 
grade, 68;  Belle,  222;  Bclleview,  45, 
68,  107;  Birch  Tree,  180;  Bismarck, 
10,  136,  221;  Bonne  Terrc,  124,  211; 
Bonnots  Mill,  90,  94;  Boonvillc,  iii, 
112,  131.  134,  139,  142,  144,  170  fiF., 
226,  232;  Brandsville,  205;  Branson, 
228,  231;  Buffalo,  228;  Cabool,  228; 
Caledonia,  68;    Cape  Girardeau,  88- 


8c),  no,  132,  137,  214,  218,  221,  227; 
Carl  Junction,  211;  Carterville,  145, 
211;  Carthage,  67,  211,  214,  216;  Cass- 
ville,  226;  Cedar  Gap,  6,  70;  Chamois, 
226;  Charrette,  90,  92;  Cole  Camp, 
172;  Cote  Sans  Dessein,  26,  90,  92; 
Crane,  226;  Crystal  City,  214;  Cuba, 
227;  Desloge,  107,  212-13;  De  Soto, 
232;  Dixon,  69,  227;  Doe  Run,  10,  212; 
Doniphan,  228;  Duenweg,  211;  Dut- 
zow,  166;  Eldon,  227;  Elvins,  212- 
13;  Eminence,  52;  Farmington,  68, 
108,  172,  213,  227;  Fertile,  94;  Festus, 
214;  Flat  River,  79,  212-13;  Forsyth, 
150;  Franklin,  111-12,  129,  131,  132, 
i33~34;  Fredericktown,  10,  68,  81, 
108,  172,  227;  Galena,  228;  Glasgow, 
3,226;  Granhy,  143  ff.,  211;  Grandin, 
180;  Granitcville,  11,  213;  Green- 
field, 105,  114;  Hartville,  228;  Her- 
culaneum,  125,  212;  Hermann,  154, 
166,  170,  171,  216,  226;  HoUister,  231; 
Humansville,  226;  Iron  Mountain, 
126  IT.;  Ironton,  126,  137;  Jackson, 
105,  227;  Jefferson  City,  53,  132,  134, 
139,  171,  216,  226;  Joplin,  46,  143  ff-. 
210-11,  216,  219;  Kimmswick,  214; 
Knob  Lick,  213;  Koshkonong,  205; 
Lebanon,  139,  227-28;  Licking,  202, 
222;  Linn  Creek,  144,  153,  22S;  Lodi, 
68;  Mansfield,  28;  Marble  Hill,  31; 
Marionville,  226;  Marshfield,  139, 
227-28;  Meramec  Spring,  5,  232; 
Midco,  182,  214;  Mine  a  Breton,  79, 
81,  83,  84,  106,  123-24.  See  also 
Potosi;  Mine  La  Motte,  76,  77,  81, 
94,  125;  Mineral  Point,  68;  Monett, 
28,  205;  Mount  Vernon,  30,  226,  232; 
Murphy's,  107-8;  N'eosho,  66,  205, 
214.  226;  New  Hourbon,  80;  New 
Franklin,  226;  Xew  Haven,  132,  226; 
New  Offenburg,  167;  Old  Mines,  76- 
77,81,94;  Oronogo,  145,  211;  Osceola, 
143,  226;  Owcnsville,  227;  Pacific,  214; 
Paris  Springs,  2^2;  Patterson,  68; 
Pcrryvillc,  106.  227;  Piedmont,  137; 
Pierce  City,  214,  226;  Pilot  Knob, 
i26flf.,  136;  Pomona,  205;  Poplar 
Bluff,  30,  137,  150,  221;  Potosi,  68, 
79,  106,  107,  125.  135.  See  also  Mine 
a  Breton;  Purcell,  211;  Racine,  48, 
214;  Richfountain,  218;  Richland,  69, 
227;    Richwoods,   68,   84;    RoUa,   64, 


241 


242        GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


139,  144,  222,  227;  St.  Andrews,  107; 
Ste.  Genevieve,  19,  77  ff.,  106,  125, 
126-27,  129,  170,  213,  214,  227; 
St.  James,  154,  227;  St.  Johns,  90; 
St.  Marys,  106,  227;  Salem,  228; 
Sarcoxie,  226;  Selma,  125;  Seneca,  48, 
228;    Sligo,   182,   214;    Springfield,  6, 

16,  27  ff.,  67,  123,  139-40,  146,  153, 
204,  214,  216,  219-20,  226;  Steelville, 
228;  Sullivan,  227;  Syenite,  213; 
Thayer,  205;  Tipton,  227;  Tuscumbia, 
218;  Valle(y)  Forge,  126;  Valle 
Mines,  94;  Van  Buren,  50,  51;  Ver- 
sailles, 64  [map],  227;  Vienna,  69; 
Warsaw,  7,  26,  139,  141,  143,  218,  226; 
Washington,  132,  166,  169,  171,  216- 

17,  226;  Waynesville,  52,  228;  Webb 
City,  145,  211,  216;  Westphalia,  167; 
Williamsville,  137;  Willow  Springs, 
228;  Winona,  180;  Wittenberg,  167; 
Zell,  167 

Clay,  fire,  48,  215 

Clover,  introduction  of  sweet  and  Japan, 

56 
Coal,  48 
Commerce:    centers,   225;    early  items, 

130,  141,  144;   early  routes,  133,  218; 

French,  87;  river,  130  ff. 

Commons,  85 

Company  of  the  West,  76 

Copper,  46,  47 

Corn, 86, 118,  141, 142,  191-92,  193 

Cotton,  120-21,  198 

Counties  of  Ozark  Highland  (applies  only 
to  textual  references  by  name.  See 
also  Cities  and  geographic  regions): 
Barry,  28,  58;  Benton,  146;  Bollinger, 
39,  184,  204:  settlement,  102,  164-65; 
Callaway,  166;  Camden,  13,  51,  155, 
192,  196;  Cape  Girardeau,  36,  39,  56, 
59,  65,  66,  119, 120, 128,  129,  184, 192, 
196,  225:  American  settlement,  102  ff., 
French  settlement,  88-89,  German,  164- 
65,  167,  171;  Carter,  153,  179,  180, 
189,  191-92,  196;  Cedar,  146;  Chris- 
tian, 138,  145;  Cole,  118,  119,  129, 
167,  171-72;  Cooper,  48,  53,  54  [map], 
118,  119-20,  129,  171-72,  188,  189-90, 
191-92,  193,  196,  198,  204,  225: 
settlement,  109-10;  Crawford,  47, 
154-55,  161-62,  182-83:  settlement, 
155;  Dallas,  51,  146,  160:  settlement, 
157;  Dent,  39,  47;  Douglas,  58,  158, 
180,  183,  200;  Franklin,  46,  63,  118, 
119-20,  123,  193-94,  196,  200,  203: 
settlement,   109,   171-72;    Gasconade, 


63,  170,  188:  settlement,  in,  171-72; 
Greene,  19,  52,  146,  188,  189-90,  191- 
92,  195,  204,  225:  settlement,  141  ff.; 
Hickory,  156  [map],  157;  Howard,  48, 
109  ff.;  Howell,  38,  54,  151  [note],  158- 
59,  189,  204-5:  settlement,  156;  Iron, 
44-45  [map],  182-83:  settlement,  107- 
8;  Jasper:  agriculture,  146,  189-90, 
193;  mining,  46,  49,  145-46,  209  ff.;  Jef- 
ferson, 48,  123,  128-29,  171,  196,  199, 
203-4:  settlement,  108-9;  Laclede, 
189,  201;  Lawrence,  16,  141,  172,  193: 
mining,  145-46,  209  ff.;  McDonald, 
189;  Madison,  129:  mining,  46,  123  ff., 
209  ff.,  settlement,  108;  Maries,  172, 
189;  Miller,  13,  20,  38,  53,  55  [map], 
58,  162,  189;  Moniteau,  118,  123-24; 
Morgan,  21,  124;  Newton,  140,  143, 
189:  mining,  48,  143-44,  209  ff., 
settlement,  138;  Oregon,  20,  28,  38, 
51,  158,  160,  189,  198,  200,  204-5: 
settlement  155;  Osage,  42  [map], 
43-44,  104  [map],  112,  167,  171-72, 
188,  192;  Ozark,  57  [map],  153,  190, 
198;  Perry,  39,  56,  59,  119,  129,  167, 
171,  192:  settlement,  102,  105-6; 
Phelps,  47,  52,  154,  172;  Polk,  9,  146, 
160,  196;  Pulaski,  43  [maps],  44,  50, 
154,  157;  Reynolds,  150,  179, _  192, 
196:  lumbering,  180-81,  184;  Ripley, 
162,  183,  189,  190,  198.  200:  settled, 
155;  St.  Charles,  109;  St.  Francois, 
10,  118,  121,  189:  mining,  46,  49,  83, 
123  ff.,  2093.,  settlement,  102,  107-8; 
Ste.  Genevieve,  6,  8,  36,  46,  48,  65, 
118,  119,  129,  167, 171, 188;  Shannon, 
20,  46,  51,  158,  162,  180-81,  189,  190; 
Stone,  18,  28,  158-59,  183;  Taney, 
180,  190,  191-92,  198,  215;  Texas, 
58,  153,  197,  204-5;  Warren,  109, 
166  ff.,  188;  Washington,  58,  118, 
129,  215,  223:  mining,  83,  1232.; 
Wayne,  59,  146,  183:  settlement,  102, 
105,  155;  Webster,  51,  143,  189,  204; 
Wright,  189,  204 

Counties,  growth  from  nuclei,  108-9 

Courtois  Hills,  68,  148  ff.,  177-79,  iQi 

Creoles,  73,  78 

Current  River,  13,  50,  68,  231  ^ 

Development:      need     of    policy,     237; 
possibilities,  235  ff. 

Dissection,  stage  of,  22 

Distilleries,  129,  142 

Domed  structure,  8 

Droughts,  33-34 


INDEX 


243 


Duden,  166  ff. 
Du  Tisne,  90 

'   Elevations,  6 

Environment,  defined,  viii 

Erosion,  cycle  of,  9 

Escarpment,  8,  66;  Avon,  66;  Burling- 
ton, 66-69;   Crystal,  15 

Farms,  sizes  and  values,  186.  See  also 
Crops  and  land 

Fish,  59-60,  117,  230 

Floats,  230-31 

Floods,  ss,  50-51,  226,  228 

Flour  milling,  87,  128-29,  142,  216 

Forests  and  trees:  cedar,  17,58;  cypress, 
59;  hardwoods,  58-59;  need  of  policy, 
237;  pine,  56-57 

Fort  Chartres,  74,  79-80 

Fort  Orleans,  89 

Fourche  a  Renault,  76 

Free  range.    See  Grazing  and  grasses 

French:  absorption  of,  94;  area  of 
influence,  93-94;  character  of  stock, 
92-93;  intermarriage,  91;  language 
distribution,  94-95;  royalists,  80-81; 
settlement,  73  flf. 

French  Canadians,  73,  93 

Fruit,  204  ff.,  236 

Fur  trade,  75,  88,  89-90 

Game,  59-60,  184,  230 

Gasconade  River,  13,  23,  25-26,  37,  40, 

4Q.  50,  51.  53.  68-69,  "5-  152-54.  218, 

230 

Geographic  regions,  61  AT. 

Geographic  Society  of  Chicago,  acknowl- 
edgments to,  i.x 

Geologic  formations:  Bonne  Terre  Ume- 
stone  and  Davis  shale,  13,  16,  39,  84; 
Burlington  limestone  of  Boone  chert, 
8, 15-16,  21, 36, 47, 63, 69;  Gasconade 
and  Potosi,  13-14,  16,  19,  23,  38,  64-65, 
68-69;  Igneous,  10,  40,  47,  67;  Jeffer- 
son City,  14-15,  17,  37,  38-39,  47; 
La  Mottc  sandstone,  13,  16,  39; 
Roubidou.x  sandstone,  14.39;  St.  Peter 
sandstone,  15,  39,  48 

Geological  survey,  creation  of,  144 
Germans,  119,  122,  164  ff.,  194,  199;  ex- 
pansion, 171-72;  immigration  through 


New  Orleans,  168;  location  on  farms; 
168;  religious  separatists,  165  ff., 
upper  class,  165-66 

Giessen  Emigration  Society,  166 

Glades,  17,  39,  56,  58,  69 

Glass  industry,  48,  214 

Goode,    J.   Paul,    acknowledgments    to, 
ix 

Gorges,  11 

Graduation  Act, "effect  of,  158 

Grand  Tower,  note  131 

Grazing  and  grasses,  58,  86,  121,  141  ff., 
160-61,  185,  236 

Hahatonka,  20,  51,  232 

Hay, 196-97 

Hemp  and  flax,  120-21 

Historical  geography,  defined,  viii 

Homestead  Act,  effects  of,  160 

Hunting,  116,  184 

Indian  titles,  100 
Industries,  household,  162,  206 
Iron  industry,  47,  126,  154,  214 
Iron  Mountain,  47,  68,  126  ff. 

James  River,  231 
Joachim  Creek,  108-9 

Kansas  City,  4,  146,  228,  230 
Kaolin,  48 

Kaskaskia,  74,  78,  79-80 
Kentucky,  emigration  from,  loi  ff. 
Kickapoo  Prairie,  140 

La  Motte,  76 

Land:  clearing  of,  189;  promotion,  186; 
sales,  100,  loi;   values,  190 

Land  grants,  76,  100;    New  Madrid  re- 
locations, loi;  Spanish,  97,  loi 

Lead,  46,  52,  67,  75,  83-84.   loi,   106, 
107,  123  ff.,  143  ff.,  209  ff. 

Lewis  and  Clark,  90 

Live  stock,  56,  86,  89,  121-22,  122-23, 
141,  160-61,  185,  198  ff.,  236 

Lochon,  De,  76 

Lost  hills,  26 


244 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  OZARK  HIGHLAND  OF  MISSOURI 


Loutre,  109,  119 

Lumbering,  142,  152,  179-80,  182  ff. 

Malaria,  93,  113  ff.,  156 

Maple  sugar,  87,  121 

Marble  Cave,  18 

Maries  River,  51,  68 

Marquette  and  Joliet,  74 

Meanders,  23  ff. 

Meramec  River,  13,  23,  51,  60,  74-75,  76, 
89,  108-9 

Millet,  197 

Mining,  46,  83  ff.,  123  ff.,  143  ff-,  152  ff-, 
162,  209  ff. 

Mississippi  River  Border,  65-66,  73,  74, 
103  f.,  178,  191,  192,  199 

Missouri  River  Border,  40,  62-63,  89-91, 
156,  178,  189,  191-92,  19s,  199 

Neosho  River,  138,  143 

New  Madrid,  96 

New  Orleans,  73,  97-98,  132 

Niangua  River,  17,  68,  150 

Northern  settlers,  146-47,  159  ff. 

Oats,  195 

Ohio  River,  132-33 

Osage-Gasconade  Hills,  68-69,  ^77 

Osage  River,   23,   24-25,  40,  49-50,  66, 

68-69,  90,  139,  142,  155-56,  159,  183. 

218 

Ozark  Center,  defined,  61 
Ozark,  origin  of  name,  5  [note] 

Park  sites,  232 

Peneplain,  21 

Pennsylvania,  emigration  from,  loi  ft'. 

Pilot  Knob,  lo-ii,  47,  68 

Pioneer  life:  character  of  stock,  102-3, 
140,  149,  159-60;  choice  of  location, 
113;  economy,  116;  homesteading, 
115  ff.;  occupations,  141;  political 
attitude,  96;  preservation  of,  184 

Pomme  de  Terre  River,  25-,  66 

Population:  city,  234;  early  distribution, 
97,  98,  99  [maps];  movement,  148; 
origin,  206-7 

Prairies,  53-54,  167;  settlement,  115, 
140,  156-58;    social  conditions,    207-8 

Quarries,  213-14 


Railroads,  218  ff.;  abandonment  of,  221; 
Atlantic  and  Pacific,  146,  160;  Cape 
Girardeau  Northern,  220;  early  con- 
struction of,  1343.;  Frisco  (St.  Louis 
and  San  Francisco),  4,  139,  146,  201, 
219  ff.,  231;  Illinois  Southern,  221; 
logging,  180-81;  Mississippi  River  and 
Bonne  Terre,  212,  220;  Missouri 
Pacific-Iron  Mountain  127,  134  ff., 
146,  220-21;  Missouri  Southern,  221- 
22;  Sligo  and  Eastern,  182,  221; 
Southwest  Branch  Pacific,  144 

Regional  geography,  defined,  vii 

Renault,  Sieur  de,  76-77 

Resorts,  231-32 

Roads:  building  of,  223-24;  early,  84, 
89,  133,  139;  fords,  224;  location  of, 
223;  and  mining,  209 

Rope  walks,  1 29 

Salisbury,  R.  D.,  acknowledgments  to, 
ix 

Salt:  springs,  48,  75,  81;  works,  81-82, 
89,  no 

Saltpeter,  153 

St.  Francois  Region,  10,  44,  47,  50,  67- 

68,  103  ff.,  177-78,  189 
St.  Francois  River,  13,  68,  231 
St.  Louis,  4,  74,  120,  127-28,  134,  169, 

172-73^  228-29,  230 
Santa  Fe  trade,  122-23,  132  ff. 
Schools,  condition  of,  208 
Shut-ins,  II  ff. 
Slavery,  77,  80,  103,  119 

Soils:  alluvial,  40-41,  169;  bench  lands, 
22;  Berry ville,  38-39,  70;  Clarksville, 
38,  41-42,  45,  57,  65,  178,  179  [map]; 
Dent  39,  70;  Fredericktown,  38-39, 
67,  107-8,  118:  Hagerstown,  38-39, 
66,  TOO,  104  ff.,  118  ff.;  Howell  38, 
42,  63,  70,  157,  189,  205;  Iberia,  37, 
157,  169;  Igneous  rock,  11,  67; 
Lebanon,  41,  63,  70,  118,  157;  Loess, 
40,  63,  66,  100,  118,  168-69,  170; 
Owensville,  41,  63;  Pocahontas,  39, 
66;  productivity,  118;  Springfield,  36, 
41-42,  119,  142;  Tilsit,  39,  64,  66; 
Union,  37,  63,  118;  wheat  soils, 
194-95 

Solution  features,  14,  18,  52,  65 

Sorghum,  197-98 

Spanish  grants.     See  Land  grants 


INDEX 


245 


Springfield  Plain,  19,  23,  66-67,  138  IT., 

178,  188,  189,  191  ff.,  199,  219,  223 
Springs,  18-19  49,  52 
Stone,  building,  47,  67 
Stream:   characteristics,  17,  23;    life,  60 

Tanyards,  129,  142 

Taum  Sauk,  6 

Tavern  Creek,  37,  68 

Tennessee,  emigration  from,  101  ff.,  140, 

158-59 
Tobacco,  119,  198 
Tornadoes,  28 

Tower,  \V.  S.,  acknowledgments  to,  ix 
Town,  projects,  11-12.     See  also  Cities 


Tripoli,  48 

Truck  and  fruit,  204  ff. 

Upper  Louisiana,  District  of,  74 

Vallc,  Francois.  79 

Virginia,  emigration  from,  loi  ff. 

Water  power,  49-50,  68,  87,  162,  215,  236 
WTieat,  86,  118,  1935. 

White  River,  15-17,  21-23,  53.  56,  69-70, 

138-39,  143,  149-50,  177-78,  231 
Whitewater  River,  25,  41,  103,  164-65 
Wine  growing,  1 70 

Zinc,  45-46,  67,  209  IT. 


PLATE  I 


»  !  R  r^^mz^ 


a,  Pilot  Knob,  a  noted  porphyry  elevation  of  typically  symmetrical  form 


b,  Shut-in  portion  of  St.  Francois  \alley  in  St.  Francois  Luunly,  a  basin  ol  soil 
sedimentary  rocks,  from  \vhi(  li  the  river  enters  a  (litVicuH  gorj^e  in  ijjneniis  rock. 


PLATE  II 


Bost7c:ct 


/\OS/7VlC^- 


a  b 

At  a  shut-in  near  Hunt's  Farm,  Reynolds  County 


>  -iSfc'.*  ^;«r3iF  . 


c,  Outlier  of  cherty  limestone,  probably  Potosi,  in  the  Farmington  Basin 


PLATK   III 


a,  Cedar  glade,  typical  of  chert-free  limestone  areas. 
Ste.  Genevieve  County. 


Bonne  Terre  formation, 


b,  Spring  at  Waynesviile,  Pulaski  County,  issuing  from  base  of  clifif  of  Gasconade 
cherty  limestone.  Xear  the  top  of  the  clifl  is  the  opening  of  a  cavern  and  below  it 
are  several  cavernous  openings.        * 


PLATE  IV 


Frisco  Railroad 


a,  Little  Piney  Creek  near  Newburg.  Typical  scene  of  an  Ozark  stream,  showing 
alternating  pools  and  shoals,  bars  of  chert  fragments,  and  a  wagon  trace  following  the 
stream  bed. 


b,  Chert-floored  bed  of  Roubidoux  Creek  at  Waynesville 


PL ATK  V 


a.  Cave  at  Ozark.  Missouri 


ffirco   Kili/roiiif 


b,  Upland  scene  near  Sullivan,  Franklin  County,  showing  characteristic   even 
sky  line  of  the  Ozarks. 


PLATE  VI 


a,  Undissected  upland  south  of  Licking,  Texas  County,  in  the  heart  of  the  Ozarks 


0,  Abandoned  farm  on  lierr}-\ille  snii,  near  I'orsx  ih,   iancy  L'uuiUy 


\ 


5-1 


*!' 


o 


<L> 


o 


o 


5 

'So 


-  § 


PLATE  VIII 


a,  Bluff  on  Big  Piney  Fork  of  Gasconade  above  Newtown,  Pulaski  County 


\ 


b,  Bluff  on  James  River  below  Galena 


TLATE  IX 


a,  Field  in  Howell  soil  near  Ava,  Douglas  Count}' 


b.  Pasture  and  stone  fence  on  Howell  soil,  near  Ava,  Douglas  County 


PLATE  X 


a,  Loess  slopes  south  of  Missouri  River,  Gasconade  County 


b,  Bottom  field  being  undercut  by  Roubidoux  Creek,  Pulaski  County.  The 
corn  (6  to  9  ft.  high)  is  a  measure  of  the  depth  of  the  alluvial  soil  above  the  level  of 
the  creek. 


I'LATK  X[ 


a,  Contrast  in  stonincss  agreeinj^  with  contrasted  exposure  of  slope.  At  right, 
the  excessively  ston\-  slope  faces  south.  In  the  middle  distance,  at  the  left,  is  a  north- 
facing  slope  with  little  chert  exposed  upon  it.     Near  Ava,  Douglas  County. 


Frisco  A'lii/roijrf 


b,  Big  Blue  Spring,  near  Bourbon 


(1h 


iV-i 


€« 


4) 


> 


(U 

(3 
o 


PLATE  XIII 


Mississippi  River  bluffs  near  McCoy 


PLATE  XIV 


a,  Rugged  flint  hills  at  Hahatonka,  Camden  County 


/•t'tsto  Kai/rOiiif 


b,  On  the  western  edge  of  the  Central  Plateau,  Cedar  Gap 


I 


PLATK  X\- 


*^*=  '■■■         ^.       I 


t: 


a.  Floatinj^  out  ties  at  Boss,  on  Iluzzah  Occk 


/•'rtjti'    A*./;/r.  .:.,•' 


b,  Clearing  land  in  Howell  County 


PLATE  XVI 


mi 


a,  Clearing  south  of  Vienna,  Maries  County 


Frisco  Rai/roa^-^ 


h,  Cornfields  near  Lebanon,  Laclede  Countv 


PLATE  XVII 


Frh.o  /!,li/r..t.i 


a.  Upland  pasture  near  Bourbon,  Crawford  County 


Frisco  RiiHr   ,j,/ 


b.  Angora  goats  in  Laclede  County 


PLATE  XVIII 


a,  Horse  Show  at  Licking,  Texas  County 


M- 


Frisco  Rai7roa<^ 


b,  Apple  orchard  at  Lebanon 


PLATi:  XIX 


Frisco  Kaiiroati 


% 


a.  Picking  peaches  in  southeastern  Missouri 


Frtsco   Riliiroil,i 


b,  Spring  house  near  Sulli\'an 


PLATE  XX 


a,  Log  house  in  Big  River  Township,  St.  Francois  County 


h.  Log  house  and  log  smokehouse  near  Galena,  Stone  County 


•  ■  .'?^-- 


.kt    is. 


I'LAIK  XXI 


^M^m 


m 


Frisco  Ktiiirotui 


Ilill  farm  in  Polk  County 


PLATE  XXII 


Frisco  J\ 


I 


a,  Prairie  farm  near  Sullivan,  Franklin  County 


Frisco  liaiiroati 


IHiittiliiiiKl 


h,  Schlicht  Springs  ]Mill,  Pulaski  County 


I'LAIK  XXlll 


Frisco   Ktttirottti 


a,  Frisco  Railroad  approaching  the  Gasconade  Valley  from  the  east  by  descending 
Little  Pincv  Creek. 


J'rtStt)  A>(i/r,',i./ 


h,  Frisco   Railroad,  Kansas  City-Memphis  branch,  located  on  divide  between 
Gasconade  and  White  River  basins,  at  Cedar  Gap. 


PLATE  XXVI 


Frisco  RiU/road 


a,  Ford  on  Spring  Branch,  White  River 


I 


i 


li\'cA-s,  Liun 


b,  Road  located  along  valley  side,  beyond  reach  of  floods.     The  old  road  was 
located  in  the  creek  bottom  and  was  often  impassable  because  of  floods  or  wash-outs. 


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